


Not all villains are evil

by Excalipur



Category: Merciful Asriel AU, Underfell AU - Fandom, Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Dark Humor, F/F, F/M, Frisk's powers are borderline Anime, I need your votes to continue!, Intense MLG, M/M, References to other Video-games/Animes/Memes, RpG Choice story, Sexual jokes and humor, That is still Red from the Fangame, There's no Flowey...have a sadistic goat-bro instead
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-28
Updated: 2016-10-21
Packaged: 2018-05-23 19:12:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 40
Words: 113,911
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6127207
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Excalipur/pseuds/Excalipur
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In the darkest abyss from which no man returned alive, can you find the light?<br/>...Do you even want to find the light? Or will you accept the darkness as your home?</p><p>You're not a good guy, nor do you pretend to be one.<br/>But will you act like one? Or will you stick to being the villain?</p><p>Your decisions, unfortunately, are not yours. But since when were you the one in control?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Falling in the abyss

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Not all heroes are born good](https://archiveofourown.org/works/5329151) by [Excalipur](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Excalipur/pseuds/Excalipur). 

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I fell in a weird cavern, alone and wearing odd clothing.  
> However, I soon found out I was not alone...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This work is very similar to my first work, "Not all Heroes are born good". However, they are very different.  
> It's not required to have read that work in anticipation, as this is a completely different interpretation.
> 
> I would like to thank BlackWritingNymph (http://archiveofourown.org/users/BlackWritingNymph) for the "RPG choice story" idea, and I recommend you read her own Underfell fanfic.  
> I would also like to thank the artist Sketchit26 (sketchit26.tumblr.com) for the general idea, without her none of my works would've been possible.  
> Finally, I want to thank SamIamNot13 (http://archiveofourown.org/users/SamIamNot13) for her support and her friendship, go check her out as well!
> 
> Oh, and let's not forget about you, my loyal readers and cats. =3  
> I love you all, from the depths of my heart.
> 
> And now, without further ado, let us begin the madness!

_I couldn't remember when I started falling. But I did know I had been falling for a long time._

_I couldn't remember why I started falling. But I did know it was because of something...bad._

_I couldn't remember how I started falling. But I did remember calling someone's name before I fell._

_After that, I didn't say anything else. Silence became my eternal companion._

 

_Dark, darker yet darker...the darkness kept growing...all around me. An obscurity so thick I couldn't even see myself. The darkness was me...and I was the darkness._

_The more I fell, the more I felt...changing. On the outside...and the inside. But since I couldn't see myself, I didn't know how I was changing outside, and since I couldn't think, I didn't know how I was changing inside._

 

_Until I realized, after an endless wait in the abyss, that I could still think...I could still believe...I could still hope. However, I didn't feel like believing or hoping in that moment._

_I could only ponder if my fall would've been endless...or if it would've had an end._

_I didn't know what of the two options scared me the most, but I was surprised...if I could fear, then I could feel. But there was nothing to feel, in the abyss...there was only darkness._

 

_I gave up hope. I gave up life. I gave up myself._

_But it was in that moment, in that moment I stopped caring..._

 

_...That I touched the ground, and felt the bare ground on my back, and the flowers tickling my hair._

 

 

 

 

I woke up. I didn't know for how long I had been sleeping, but I imagined I didn't sleep for a long period of time. I was still very tired, for some reason.

A question rose to my mind: where was I?

I got up, and scouted my surroundings: I had been lying in a bed of red flowers; to be more precise, they had their petals red while the middle section was black. Those flowers seemed...a bit odd, is how I would describe it. Like I knew they should not be there; I cast those useless thoughts away from my head and kept looking around.

The bed of flowers covered the whole room, which was a big circular...cave; there were some rocks lying around, some big and some small. I looked upwards: there was a small opening in the cave's roof, enough big to let a normal human fall through: I figured out that's how I arrived in that weird place. But I didn't remember how I fell.

Now that I knew, at least to a certain degree, where I was, I decided to check if I was hurt, injured, bleeding...I found out quickly that, despite the fall, I wasn't hurt in the slightest.

However, I stopped for a few minutes to look at my clothing: I was wearing a black leather jacket, under it a black t-shirt which had a white skull with flaming eyes painted on it. I was also wearing black trousers, which were super tight. I could see my beautiful and yet powerful legs right through them, and that made me chuckle a little bit. My boots were black, and they had a few sets of belts wrapped around them; they also had relatively high heels, but I felt very agile in them nonetheless. I was also wearing a pair of black fingerless battling gloves, which I thought were very rad.

I couldn't see my face, but I could feel something...on my lips. I touched them with my right index finger, and I ascertained, surprised, that I was wearing black lip gloss. I never remembered using lip gloss, or ever putting on that incredibly dark clothing, but I didn't have the time to ponder on those silly questions.

Something was coming.

“I thought I heard something fall over there...what could it be?” a promiscuous, maybe slightly masculine voice was heard echoing through the rocky hallway that connected this cave-like room to the only exit: I knew that something was about to happen.

Without knowing if the man who was coming this way had good or bad intentions, I hid myself behind the biggest rock in the room, hoping not to get caught. I didn't know the reason for doing all this, it came more like an automatic response than an actual intended course of action.

“Hmm...I don't see anyone...” the voice admitted. It sounded...amazing, actually, it was one of those voices that you could keep listening to forever without tiring...and yet, something was terribly off about that voice: a pint of...sadism, right at the end of every, single, word. It gave me the chills, it sounded like the voice of the Devil.

“...But the flowers here seem to have been squeezed a little bit...” the way he pronounced the verb “squeezed” wasn't to my liking at all. He seemed to enjoy talking like that.

He chuckled, a soft yet perfectly audible (maybe too much) laugh “Oh, I see: you're hiding, aren't you?”

My heart skipped a beat; I felt like I was in the middle of a blizzard at night, alone.

“Don't worry, whoever you are...I don't bite...” he laughed again, what sort of demon could be so perversely twisted?

“You know you're being very, very rude, don't you?” he waited a little bit, before talking again “...Oh well, it sheemsh we have to do thish the hard way.” did he...was he chewing on something? It looked like he was.

Without any warning, a jet of blazing black fire appeared before me, a few inches ahead of me: in fact, it missed me just barely, but my heart acted like it hit me, and a small hiccup exited my mouth.

I prayed he didn't hear that.

“Hmm...maybe there really ish no-one here. Oh, well...” I heard steps, getting more and more distant, more and more inaudible, before finally stopping.  
-Is he gone?-, I thought -Probably- I answered my own question.

I waited a few more seconds just to be sure and then I stopped hiding; I looked at the room's state: some of the flowers behind a few of the other big rocks were aflame, but they didn't seem to be burning.

After a while, there was nothing burning anymore, much to my relief: those flowers were too beautiful to be burnt to a crisp like that...since when did I start thinking they were beautiful?

Whatever, I had bigger priorities: understanding what just happened.

A random guy, who I didn't have the chance to look at, just entered the room: he knew I was here, and despite that he didn't do too much to find me...the fact that he made jets of flame appear out of nowhere scared me a lot, this guy was...the word I used before, demon, fitted in the situation.

This demon was either a wizard, possibly specialized in dark magic from the looks of it, or an outright monster...was I seriously considering the option that this dude used “magic” against me?

The more stunning question wasn't why I was considering that an option, it was why I was considering that the _only_ option. Because it looked very plausible to me that this dude was a monster, even though I had never seen one before...something about trying to remember if I ever saw a monster before gave me a headache, so I stopped trying to remember and focused on my biggest priority in that moment: getting out of there.

That guy could've returned whenever he wanted, and I needed to escape that hell of a place as fast as I could.

I looked at the hallway he used to enter the room: the walls were rocky, maybe a bit...unstable, but it seemed solid enough to not crumble atop of me while I passed through it; the door at the end of the hallway was made in...black limestone, at least as far as I knew. An incision, that reminded me of an angel...or a demon, was carved on the door itself. You needed a little bit of imagination to see it, however.

I traversed the small hallway, and ventured through the door, which made a loud noise when I opened it. The room before me was rather big, it was painted in purple and the only exit I could see was overhead, at the end of the room: I had to climb through some stairs to reach it, but it didn't seem so...

“Well, hello there.” my blood froze in my veins, if I was scared before now I was terrified; the door behind me close, and it didn't seem like it shut on itself.

“You almost made me think I was imagining things...that was rather rude on your part, wasn't it?” the exact same voice, the exact same guy. He was right behind me, I could tell...if he wanted to harm me, he would've done it already... -Bulllshit, he just wants to toy with me- that's what I thought.

That was the only logical explanation.

“Oh, nice jacket by the way...” he got right behind me, and removed my jacket; I was too scared to stop him, I was completely paralyzed by this foe. His hands were covered in thick, white fur: this guy wasn't human in the slightest. Nobody had hands...claws like those. Those fingernails looked like they could cut through metal with ease.

“Hmm...I've never seen such a tissue...is it leather? Actual leather? Do you humans make your clothing with the skin of your own kind?” this guy had a really perverse imagination...then again, not even I knew what I was wearing, so...

“And this picture behind it...beautiful indeed.” what was he talking about?

I turned around, finally managing to move after all that happened: the monster was holding my jacket between his hands, fiddling with it, observing it like an expert.

The monster had that white fur all over his body, he was bigger than me...yes, definitely much bigger. He had a caprine face, complete with snoot, floppy ears, and...fangs. Really, really sharp fangs, like those fingernails. Goats didn't have those fangs. What impressed me the most were his eyes: the iris was red, blood red, and the pupil was like those of cats, of a deep black color. The sclera wasn't white, but of a yellowish color. Those weren't the eyes of a sane person.

He was wearing a black and red robe, that weird symbol I saw carved on the door was painted on the robe as well: I didn't know what that symbol meant, but I knew they were one and the same, perhaps there was a correlation between the door and the robe.

Just then I realized what the monster was looking at: my jacket had an image behind it. A red heart, enveloped in a black gooey substance and chained by two silver chains.

“Interesting...” the monster tossed the jacket back at me, and I grabbed it mid-air: I put it on immediately, my eyes weren't moving from him, I was slowly walking backwards.

“Anyway, I have to owe you my...apologies. I haven't even introduced myself, how rude of me!” the monster had a huge grin on his face, I could count his fangs one by one; he bowed towards me, but his gaze was solidly pointed towards my face, those eyes looked like they were glowing of an evil without precedents.

“My name... is Lord _Asriel Dreemurr_...”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story requires you to choose how to proceed. To do so, follow this link:  
> http://strawpoll.me/6948147  
> You can only choose one option, and you can't vote again.  
> You don't need to register anywhere, so you can vote even if you're a guest user. So please, participate.  
> Also, WHO'S HYPED FOR THIS SHIT?!?!?


	2. Ruins: The Underground

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I discovered that goat-looking freak wanted to kill me.  
> While running away from him, I discovered I was pretty good at punching and kicking.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Good...I love the starting stats!  
> Also, I would like to direct your attention to that "sexual references" tag and the "mature" rating.  
> Because seriously, this work is really freaking vulgar. If you're not impressed by that (aka you're the average viewer) feel free to continue! =3
> 
> Also, I realized I fucked up yesterday's Strawpoll (Has your mom never told you [not] to talk with maniacal goat demons?)  
> I hath failed thee, English! I'll try to avoid making grammar errors from now on, and I might resort to get a beta-reader to do so.  
> But, if I decide to do so, I already know who's it going to be. So please, don't comment to ask me that. =3

_[ACT: Talk]_

 

I didn't know who the man before me was; apart from his name and his appearance, I didn't know anything about him...other than his melodious yet frightening voice and that terrible, despicable aura of evil that I could perceive from him.

Despite that, I decided to play his game, at his rules...for now, at least.

“Hi. I'm...” a tremendous headache arrived in an instant, making me fall to my knees; remembering my own name...that was a task I had difficulties to complete. I put my hands over my temples, trying to remember such a meaningless, yet...so crucial thing.

“You're...who? Come on, speak louder, please! I can't hear you over your whimpers of pain!” the monster urged me, careless about my mental state.

“I...I am...” two names suddenly appeared inside the darkness that was my mind... -Frisk- -Chara- ...did I have two names? What was the meaning of that? Nothing made sense...

Without thinking, I told the monster both my names; upon hearing the name “Chara”, his face filled with disgust “Don't joke with me, human. There is only one human whose name is Chara...” his grin grew ten times larger “...And they've been dead for quite a while, now...”

The name “Chara” disappeared from my mind in an instant, as if it never existed. Only the name “Frisk” remained, which I accepted as my own name. I stood, facing the monster and looking at him straight in the eyes.

“My name is Frisk.”

“Frisk...what a magnificent name!” he seemed very...pleased with my response; he closed his eyes, and looked away, a smile on his face “Such a brave youngster, so full of life like her name...” he looked at me once again, now with a dreadful gaze which pierced through me like a million daggers “...It will be an immense pleasure to take your life.” he finally spoke, licking his lips with a long, almost serpentine tongue.

I needed to get out of there.

Without thinking twice about it, I ran towards the stairs I saw before, hoping to get away as fast as I could from this savage abomination; “Run, run like the wind! Until you have nowhere else to run to...” I could hear him laugh in the distance, a laugh so unlike the one I heard just a few minutes before: this one was maniacal, insane...it made me shiver as I climbed the right set of stairs all the way to the top, and kicked the purple limestone door wide open.

The door led to a poorly decorated room, purple as well: on my right, there were some stones on the ground, as big as my foot, and a switch which I presumed did something once it was flipped. Right in front of me, there was a door as big and strong-looking as the one I just forcibly opened, on my left there was a sign on the wall, too old and shattered to be readable.

I tried busting the door open as well, failing miserably. I retried, and retried again: the door stayed firmly shut, I wasn't powerful enough to proceed...if there even was a way to proceed. Suddenly, the door opened by itself, producing a loud clanking noise...but I didn't do anything.

I looked at my right: that monster...Asriel, or whatever, was standing by the lever I saw earlier, a wide grin on his face “Whoops, I flipped the lever. Seems like now you have a way to escape...how unfortunate for me!” this guy...he was toying with me, I knew it. That didn't reassure me at all, but I did use that opportunity to distance myself from him.

The next room, which was still colored purple, consisted of two platforms separated by an impetuous torrent; the water was streaming so fast, I knew if I fell down there I would've died for sure...

There was a wooden drawbridge, which seemed to be the only way to traverse the creek, both of the bridge's sections were upright, preventing passage. I noticed a lever on the other side of the room, which I presumed was how you lowered the bridge...I quickly found out there was a similar lever on this side of the room as well, but before I could reach out to it the monster from before halted me, a frown of disapproval accompanied by an ironic smile “Oh, come on Frisk! That would be cheating!”

“Fuck you.” I replied, my voice wasn't stuttering and frail anymore, but loud and angry. That reaction seemed very normal to me, especially considering I was talking with a monster that considered me nothing more than a toy to play with.

“That is so rude of you, human! Fortunately, I do not care about that...” he positioned himself next to the lever, preventing me from activating it “You have a minute to reach the other side. If you fail to do so, I will kill you.”

I wasn't in the mood to play this asshole's game, but my current situation required me to: I scouted the room, looking for something similar to a lever to activate, but it looked like the one the monster was standing by was the only one actionable from this side. I hypothesized the length of the river to be approximately fifty feet: fifty feet of inevitable death, separating me from an isle of salvation that looked unreachable.

“Tic-tac, tic-tac: time's running out, Frisk; you only have thirty seconds left...” he told me, mockingly.  
“Shut the fuck up!” I replied, my brain was running so fast I couldn't even...running fast. Maybe...

Fifty feet were impossible to traverse with a single jump, but perhaps...the waters covered only the floor, but not the walls, which were as resistant as the floor I was walking on. Even if it seemed impossible, I had to try...

“You have...what?” the monster tried to finish his mocking sentence, but he stopped upon looking at me running all the way back to the entrance, and prepare myself to run; “Are you seriously going to do this? You know that's suicide, don't you?” he seemed...a bit disoriented, is the word I would use.

“Any better ideas, genius?” I angrily asked. He stood silent, not a sound came from him.

“Good, then...” I started running towards the left wall, reaching it right at the end of the platform at an angle of roughly 45° degrees: I jumped, far higher a normal human could hope to, my shoes weren't walking on the sturdy floor now, but on the stable wall. Helping myself with my left hand, I ran across the wall like I could fly, meanwhile losing altitude due to gravity -Damn it damn it damn it damn it...-

Defying all laws of probability plus my own expectations, I barely managed to land on the other platform, dodging an impending death by mere inches. I took a few seconds to catch my breath, meanwhile I could hear the monster applaud my efforts “Impressive! If I have to be honest, I didn't expect you to be so brave...or careless. Oh, well...”

Hoping to get at least a few seconds of advantage, I recomposed myself and ran all through the door, into the next room. It was purple as well, which convinced me all the future rooms would've been purple as well, and tinier than the previous ones too. The only two things I could see where another door which lead to yet another room and a training dummy, burned and broken.

Soon, I spotted something else, something I didn't notice when I first entered the room: a frog-like creature, with a skin as green as moss and as big as an adult dog, observing me from the other side of the room. It looked like a frog, but no frogs were this big: this was another creature, like the one who had been following and taunting me for the past few minutes. It wasn't doing anything, it was just...staring at me, with those black, empty eyes of his.

Suddenly, he leaped from where he was to right in front of me, I managed to dodge the attack by sliding under him at the last second. The frog didn't waste time and turned around, jumping once more with the clear tactic of pounding me to the ground. But this time I was ready.

I slid under him once more, but this time, while the monster was right above me, I used my left leg to press against the ground and jump, kicking him in the stomach with my right foot in the process; the hit sent him flying, I was following him close behind. While in mid-air, I kicked the frog once again, right in the head, with my left shoe; the monster flew all the way through the room, hitting the opposite wall and falling to the ground.  
I landed on the ground and ran up to him, I wanted to finish him with a single hit...but when I finally saw those big, teary eyes, I decided to stop. “Get the fuck away before I change my mind...” I yelled. The monster didn't seem to understand what I said, but he understood the overall meaning and he ran away, disappearing in the dark corners of the room.

I turned to the door, but the only thing I saw was the white angel-resembling lace of Asriel's robe. I tried to jump away, but he grabbed me before I could do anything “Where are you going, exactly?”

I wanted to free myself, but I felt tired, like my energy was being drained out of my own body. I felt helpless, in the hands of that demon who sought solely my pain and my despair. “L-Let me go, you jerk...” I cried, in vain.

“I don't think so, little one...” he laughed softly, like he did in that cavern “...You are mine...” he grabbed my chin with his right hand and held me tightly with the other one. He was looking at my face as if he was admiring an artwork “...Mine to control. Mine to play with. Mine...to kill.”

“Y-You...I will kill you...” I swore, but once again my words fell on deaf ears. This monster...he had fun, with me, but now it was time to stop playing and act seriously. At least, that's what I understood.

“Such beautiful eyes...I will make sure to preserve them, once you won't be able to...” that was the straw that broke the camel. I wasn't angry, I wasn't mad: I was infuriated. And I was about to have my revenge.

Using all my leftover energy, I broke my right hand free and I used it to punch the monster in the face: he let go of me, and he fell to the ground gracelessly. He probably didn't expect any resistance by me at this point.

I used the brief seconds I had at my disposal to consider the options: I could've tried to run away, or I could've tried to knock him out...perhaps, even kill him. If I chose the first one, there was no way to predict how things would've ensued afterwards. The monster by the name of Asriel could've tried to pursue me, but there was a chance I could've made it out of there...I could've hided, escape from him. But if I failed, it would've been my doom. If I did assault Asriel now that he was on the ground, helpless, I may have had a chance to defeat him...and maybe, even eliminate him for good.

My body desired only to attack the enemy now that he was on the ground, but my mind hesitated. Despite trying to kill me, that monster...for some reason, I was hesitating to hurt him. It was almost like...I had...

“You little...” Asriel got up in an instant, and his hate-filled words made me fall from the clouds. He chuckled, as he smiled “...I've never met someone like you before. You're the first person to ever fight back at all...you truly are something. That will make your death much more satisfying...” he ran to me, but I was prepared: I grabbed his robe with my hands while he was still running and used my right leg to make him trip. The technique succeeded and I was now on top of him...until he swept the floor and made me fall atop of him, now we were battling each other while on the ground.

“Even like this, you still look good...” he said, as he used his left paw to...grab my tit? Embarrassment giving me strength, I punched the monster in his face once again, but it didn't seem he suffered the hit; without following a greater plan, but instead relying on my sole instinct, I grabbed his head with both my hands. At first, I thought it had done nothing...but then, my vision went white, as images started appearing in my head...

 

_I woke up._

_The first things I saw were the shiny stalactites at the top of the cavern, and the hole from which I fell in that place. -Am I still alive?- I asked myself, not knowing if I was in Heaven...or still in Hell._

_From the pain I was suffering, I realized I was still alive: I tried getting up, but my back hurt too much to even consider moving. I was stuck, in a place I didn't know.  
It would've been better if I died. It would've pained less._

“ _What is that over there?” I heard a childish voice echo through the cave. Was there...someone else down there? Maybe I wasn't the only one who fell in that abyss, maybe there were other..._

_What I saw wasn't human. I caught a glimpse of it with my eyes, I couldn't move my head very much: the face's features were definitely caprine, but the fangs did not seem to belong to a goat...or any herbivore in general. He was wearing a black and red striped sweater, and black shorts. His legs were somewhat muscular, but not very long._

“ _Who are you?” the...monster asked. He had weird, yellow glowing eyes, the iris was red but the pupils were black, like those of cats “I asked who you are.” he repeated._

“ _I'm...I'm Chara...” I answered._

“ _Are you...a human?” he asked, emotionless._

“ _Y-Yes...what are you, exactly?” I inquired._

_He did not answer, but his smile grew larger and larger, as he started laughing “A real human? That's...amazing! We've been waiting for one of you to come for centuries!” what did he mean by that?_

“ _This...this might be my chance! Father will be so proud of me!” he returned his gaze to me “You...you came at the right moment, human! Thanks to you, I...I...” I coughed, distracting him. With horror I realized what I spitted wasn't saliva, but blood._

“ _Are you okay?” the monster asked._

“ _Y-Yeah...I'm fine...” I tried to get up, but my injuries prevented me from doing anything. I was still stuck, still in pain._

“ _Oh dear, do I have to do everything by myself?” he grabbed me by my arms and lifted me up, carrying me over his shoulders “I don't want you to die...yet. Please, try not to scream too much, I want this to be a surprise!”_

_What the monster just told me frightened me a bit: what did he mean by “not yet”?_

_However, I was too tired and broken to fight back, so I decided to not resist the monster's aid and...see where this would've brought me. I didn't fear death, but...there was a chance I could've met something worse than death down there._

 

I rolled away, my mind still spinning like I was riding a crazed bull. I felt...tremendously weird, those memories...they weren't mine, but I recognized what happened wasn't a dream. Someone fell in that hell before me, and that monster who helped them...was he...

“You...” if he was angry before, now he was furious. He got up and grabbed me by the jacket mercilessly “What did you see?”

“I-I...fuck you...” I didn't have the strength to fight back, that trip definitely wore me out. Too bad that happened in the worst possible moment.

“You...why are you doing this?” I looked at him in the eyes, but it didn't seem like he was talking with me anymore: he was in another world, not paying attention to what I was doing anymore “Do you really think I'll do the same to her? Ha! I learned my lesson, you fool: I won't repeat the same mistakes.”

His gaze returned to me, a wide grin growing on his face; despite having been in that hellhole for not even ten minutes, I grew accustomed to that grin “Your death is near, human.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's today's Strawpoll!  
> http://strawpoll.me/6957443
> 
> Next chapter comes out this thursday (3/3/16) so be ready when it comes out! =3


	3. Ruins: Napstablook

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I managed to escape the monster's bind and run away.  
> However, I didn't expect to fight another monster who seemed way too powerful.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This strawpoll was quite the fight! I didn't expect it to be such a tough choice for you...  
> In the end, the more "pacifist-like" option was chosen. And, for the sake of the plot, it was actually the right call.  
> That doesn't mean that all the "good" options are actually good, though.

_[ACT: Call for help]_

 

I was scared, I didn't feel like I could beat this monster in a fight at all: compared to the monster I beat a few seconds before, this one was on a whole other level. I wasn't confident in winning at all.

I was panicking, unable to think rationally anymore...I called for help, even though I didn't expect to be helped at all. It was...an automatic response, I presume. I prayed that someone would've helped me, that someone would've answered my cry.

“Come on, are you serious now?” the monster chuckled as he tightened the grip around my neck “Who do you think will help you, huh?” if he kept rising the pressure, I would've been unable to breathe...and then, I would've been finished.

However, before he could begin to hurt me, a small swarm of white flies hit him in the arm: he didn't seem to have suffered the hit but he did let go of me. I looked in the direction that swarm came from: the monster I just beat was standing still, looking towards me. “Ribbit ribbit” he croaked; for some reason, I thought he said something on the lines of “Now we're even.”, but I shoved that thought away thinking it was simply my mind playing tricks on me. It can happen, if you're stressed enough.

After the frog disappeared exactly like before, I turned towards the monster by the name of Asriel: he seemed...surprised, as if he didn't expect that to happen; I used the opportunity to kick him in the stomach, sending him flying backwards and granting me enough time to run through the door.

I spent the next few minutes running from room to room, evading traps while beating any other monster who dared to attack me. Turns out there were more monsters than that frog-like being I encountered before: I noticed some of them were similar, as if belonging to the same species or something like that, but I had yet to find something remotely similar to the one that was pursuing me in that moment.

Sometimes, I could even feel his cold breath on my neck, which gave me the shivers. I didn't know if I really was managing to evade him...or if he had decided to restart toying with me. Maybe it wasn't a bad thing, being toyed with like that: as long as I didn't bore him, he would've kept me alive...probably. But I didn't want to stop and ask him that question.

I also noticed that while some of the traps I had to go through were explicitly designed to eliminate me, some of them were more...subtle than the others. There were a few instances where the trap's job wasn't to kill you, but simply to slow you down. However, I had to cheat my way through all of them, because I didn't have the time to stop and solve them.

Eventually I arrived in a small room, divided in two sections by a very small passage. However, the way seemed blocked by...some kind of white sheet: after a few seconds of observing it, I recognized it was...a ghost?

It looked like one of those poorly-made ghost costumes some kids wear at Halloween, made only with a white blanket and a pair of scissors to cut the holes for the eyes and mouth: the sclera was blue, while the pupils were as white as his...body. A line ran between his teary eyes, blue as well.

As soon as he noticed me, he started producing a strange sound: he repeated the letter “z” continuously as if pretending to sleep which was, needless to say, not fooling me in the slightest.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” I asked, looking at him angrily “If you have to fake snoring, at least do it decently goddammit.”

The ghost got up, looking at me with those big eyes of his: even though he was crying, he was looking at me furiously; he was crying before as well, while he was “sleeping”, so at least my conscience was clear.

“Why don't you just go away?” he asked in a very angry tone “Leave me alone!” I then noticed that his tears, instead of falling to the ground, were flying rapidly towards me: I managed to cover my face with my arm before one of those projectiles could hit me in the eyes, and I found out much to my surprise that they were actually dangerous. It felt like a syringe on my skin, and even though that didn't hurt me very much I understood how many of them would have.

I jumped backwards, thinking of a new battle strategy while dodging the ghost's attacks. If that monster fitted the description of a normal ghost, then physical attacks would've been useless...but nothing up to that point made sense, so it was worth a shot to try.

I ran to the monster and punched him right in the center of his body: it felt like my hand was sliding on soap or butter, his body was made of a gooey substance that made my normal attacks completely ineffective. I jumped backwards barely in time to avoid another stream of those tear-shaped bullets.

“Leave me alone already!” the monster kept screaming, and every time he did that the intensity of his attacks increased, making it harder to dodge them. I was running out of ideas...how could I win against someone who couldn't lose?

I then remembered that I had a far more dangerous monster pursuing me, almost making my heart stop: I looked behind me, towards the door from which I arrived, and I immediately saw that goat-like monster standing by it, preventing me from retreating, with that weird smile of his. I knew it, he was still toying with me. He grabbed another lollipop from his robe's pocket and started licking on it as if it was the most delicious thing in the world, but he was still looking at me.

I couldn't proceed, and I couldn't back down either. I was stuck between two equally overpowered monsters who probably wished nothing but my death. At least, the ghost monster wished for it: I didn't know what did the other one want at this point.

I tried to focus. Every idea was a good idea, I just had to try everything I could try until I found the solution to that problem...it could've been exploiting the enemy's weakness, or finding an alternative way to end the conflict...

I realized something was going on with my right hand: it was starting to shake and tremble, as I desperately tried to keep it in check. Then, yellow lightning bolts flew through my fist while I felt a drastic increase in power. I didn't know what was happening, but maybe that was my chance.

I ran to the monster, dodging all the attacks that were becoming quite difficult to avoid actually, and hit him straight in his face: despite the hand sliding as before, it seemed as those sparkles did their work as the monster flew backwards a few inches.

He didn't seem very happy with what I just did, as he increased the rate of fire of his projectiles; I focused once more, trying to mimic the conditions that spawned that powerful attack, and once more my hand became embedded with lightning. I had to hit the ghost two more times with that attack before he finally stopped attacking. However, he didn't fall to the ground.

“Just...just kill me already.” the monster cried, his tears were once again falling to the ground, creating a small river that thankfully didn't stream towards my boots.

“And why should I do that?” I asked, a bit impatiently.

“Because you hate me! Everybody does!” I facepalmed as I understood I was in the middle of some nerd's existential crisis.

“I don't hate you! Well, maybe now I do because you tried to kill me and stuff, but if you didn't attack me I could've just...walked by, I guess.” I was trying to be honest, but this guy didn't seem to like my confession.

“Walk by...too easy. Everyone ignores me...apart from my cousin, nobody cares if I'm alive or not. I should...I should just be dead. The dead would appreciate my company much more than you...”

“First, you're a ghost: you're already dead.” he didn't seem to like the joke, but he didn't interrupt me “Second, if you feel like that then why didn't you talk instead of shooting your fucking tears at me? Besides, how can you say nobody cares about you if you just said your cousin or whatever does?” I didn't know why, but I was trying to cheer this monster up, even if there was no actual reason why.

“My cousin...he's super famous, and yet...he cares so much about me. In a tough way, but he does. He offered me a chance...to be like him. But...I can't let him do that. He's too nice with me...why must he be so nice when nobody else is?” he was making such a mess, but I understood the overall meaning.

“Look, if your cousin is half as good as you describe him, then I suggest you accept his proposal. You should be thanking him, not apologizing, is what I'm trying to say. If you keep acting the way you do, then you won't every reach happiness.”

“H-Happiness?” the monster seemed stunned “M-Me? I...I can't be happy...there's no way...”

“Yes, there is a way: stop fucking crying and get a life, goddammit. Stop giving into your fears and act like a fucking man...or girl...or whatever you are!” I yelled at him; after that motivational speech, I think I could understand life coaches a bit better.

“...Okay. You're right, I should stop crying.” he stayed true to his promise and stopped pouring tears “Well, I have to go now. Goodbye...I hope.” he disappeared in thin-air, just like all the monsters before him.

Those departing words scared me a bit: was he implying I wouldn't have survived to meet him once more?  
“Clever...very clever indeed...” the monster that was pursuing me slowly walked towards me, clapping while still having that creepy grin on his lips “...You never seem to disappoint me, Frisk.”

I made a step backwards, without stopping to look at him “The hell do you want from me?” I yelled at him.

“That is a very good question...” he stopped, and shifted his head to the side: now he was looking at me with his right eye only, which surprisingly made him much more intimidating “You've proven yourself to be quite resourceful: watching you deal with the Underground's denizens and the traps I've set up a long time ago truly is entertaining...”

“Wait, you were...waiting for me?” I was confused, how did he know I would've fell down there?

“I waited a very long time for a human to come...but I didn't expect a specimen as fine as you to fall, if I have to be honest...” that made a lot more sense.

“Do you still want to kill me?” I asked, a bit nervous.

“Hmm, I'm not sure. I would love to drain the life out of you...but if I do that, then I wouldn't have anything to toy with until another human falls down...” he closed his eyes and caressed his chin “...Besides, killing isn't as entertaining as torturing!”

“Dude, you're creepy, you know that right?” I was disgusted by this monster's dark entertaining methods.

“Why, yes of course! But we're getting off-track: I now want to make a deal with you.”

“A deal?” I was completely lost: why make a deal with someone who you can manipulate at will...unless, he saw me as a threat, an irregularity he could not comprehend or control.

“You will stay right next to me, and you'll do everything I tell you to...” he smirked, as he continued “...And I promise I will not harm you today. I can't promise anything for the next days, but at least today you'll be safe...I'm even considering giving you some fine tea...”

“Are you serious?” I said that with a mixture of surprise and disbelief: from the looks of it, he wasn't joking...but I couldn't tell, since that dreadful expression always slowed my thoughts a bit. Reading him was impossible, I had to expect anything from him.

If I decided to accept, I would've had the chance to survive, at least for now...and I can only guess as to what would've happened if I didn't accept...but it was an option, refusing the deal.  
Things would've only got worse if I accepted...and even if I refused.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, here's today's Strawpoll  
> http://strawpoll.me/6984324  
> Let's see what you decide to do with this one!
> 
> Next chapter will come out...this Sunday, I guess. Have a nice day, everyone! =3


	4. Ruins: Prison

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After accepting Asriel's proposal, he brought me to his home.  
> I learned a lot about his kind's past...and about how to exit that damn place.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Writing this crap never gets tiring. =3  
> Anyway, if you're enjoying this novel, why don't you leave a comment?  
> I love reading your comments and answering them, so please let me hear your voice!  
> *cough cough* And leave kudos *cough cough*

_[ACT: Accept]_

 

I didn't know what would've happened if I decided to do as he said, but he did promise me I would've been safe...at least for the time being. I opted to accept his proposal, despite my subconscious kept trying to convince me it was a horrible idea.

“Okay, I accept. Now, where's the tea?” I asked while smirking.

“Now, now, aren't you the impatient type. If you want to kill your thirst you'll have to wait until we arrive...home.” that expression, “kill your thirst”, wasn't necessary at all: he could've expressed the same concept in a variety of different ways but he chose that one. I found it very fitting for someone like him. The fact that he hesitated before saying the word “home” unsettled me as well: where was he bringing me, exactly?

 

For the next ten minutes I kept exploring that purple area with Asriel: I wasn't running anymore, and he wasn't trying to hurt me either, but the more I stayed with him the more I convinced myself of his madness. He enjoyed looking at me beating other monsters, and whenever something hurt me he observed the wound marveled, like it was an art work. This guy was messed up.

Since I had agreed to the terms of the deal, I had to stay near him all times and do whatever he told me to: a bit irritating, but at least he wasn't forcing me to do anything I disliked. He limited himself to oblige me to solve particular traps or defeat certain monsters. However, I found out quickly enough that I made him happier whenever I cheated my way through the traps than when I solved them correctly and whenever I used unconventional strategies to overcome my opponents, like exploiting a weakness of theirs or using the environment against them, than when I beat them in a fair fight.

Despite classifying himself as a “Lord” when we first met, he didn't seem very interested in his subjects' lives at all, as he often asked me why didn't I eliminate them once I had defeated them: I always answered that I didn't know as well, and that was a truth so simple and yet so mysterious even I couldn't understand it.

Eventually, after making our way through that seemingly endless zone full of purple rooms, traps and unwelcoming abominations, we arrived to a huge house in the middle of that labyrinth: it was built out of purple bricks (so long originality) and the only things that distinguished it from a wall were the big opening I supposed was the entrance, two smaller holes which acted as windows and a sign hanging over the entrance that read “This is the home of” the middle section of the sign had been incinerated, and so that second sentence had been destroyed “Trespassers will be executed” it ended. There was also a small garden before the house, full of those red and black flowers from before, and in the middle of the garden there was a black tree with red leaves.

Looking at that marvelous tree, whose branches tended to the ground as if wanting to envelop me in their embrace, filled me with a sense of protection. I was ready for whatever this beast had in store for me.

“Now, human: this is my home. What do you think, honestly?” he looked at me, still smirking.

“Not bad, but you could've painted it differently: why must everything in this place be freaking purple? I'm sick of that color!”

“Isn't your hair purple as well?” he asked in an ironic tone; I never checked my hair, in fact, and when I did I found out I had long, black hair with shades of purple. I wondered why I had chosen such an...innovative outfit, but the more I tried to remember the more I forgot. My name was everything I knew about me, but surprisingly enough I remembered a lot of seemingly useless pieces of information as well.

“Human?” I fell from the clouds as I saw the monster looking at me from the entrance, a bit angry “I thought I told you to come inside.”

“Yeah, I got distracted.” I justified myself as I entered the building.

I entered a poorly decorated room: the floor was made out of brown wood tiles and the walls were painted in a brownish white, while the ceiling was as brown as the floor. The only piece of furniture I could see was a small drawer; above the drawer was a potted red flower. I couldn't comprehend how was the room lighted, as there was only one small lamp attached to the wall on the other side of the room and there was no way that small candle could light the entire space. My attention got caught by the set of stairs descending...somewhere.

“Over here.” the monster signed me as he entered a room on my left; I decided to follow him, and I entered a living room, painted exactly like the last chamber except it was slightly bigger.

There was a wooden table with three chairs, one of them slightly smaller than the other two, and above that table there was another potted flower; there was also a bookshelf filled with books of all kinds and genres and a fireplace as big as...I didn't want to finish the thought.

“Now, sit at that table please.” the monster pointed at the table in the middle of the room “I'm going to go make tea, so...make yourself at home!” he ended that phrase with a chuckle, as he went into another room which I supposed was the kitchen.

I tried to sit on one of the big chairs but it was too big and wide to be considered comfortable, so I reluctantly seated at the kid-sized one even though my dignity took a mighty blow. After a few minutes, the monster returned with two cups of tea, and served me one of them; I tried the drink, which was of a reddish color, and discovered it was surprisingly good.

“What tea is this?” I asked.

“Red flower tea.” he simply answered, a bit annoyed. So, all those red flowers I saw in that weird labyrinth so far were used both as a decoration and as an ingredient in this tea...

“Now that I've complied to your requests...” the monster started, looking me straight in the eyes “...Let's act as if nothing happened and introduce ourselves, shall we? I'm Lord Asriel Dreemurr, prince of the Underground and ruler of the Ruins.” he was always faintly smiling, for some reason he was enjoying all that.

“Well, I'm Frisk. What do you want from me, exactly? You obviously don't want to kill me anymore, if you do you wouldn't have gone through the trouble of bringing me here...” I asked.

“Very clever, human. You're correct, I do not want to kill you anymore...” his smile grew larger “I have bigger projects for you.”

“Like what?” I was scared, but I tried not to make him notice it.

“I could tell you now, but it would ruin the flow of the conversation. Before we talk about that, why don't you tell me more about you...about the Surface?” he didn't want to talk about it? That alone was enough to unsettle me...

I tried to remember about the “Surface” as he called it, but to no avail: the more I tried to remember about my past, the more I suffered from a headache growing within my brain...I decided to stop trying and confess to the monster.

“I...I have amnesia. I can't remember anything...” I told him.

“Interesting...when he fell, he didn't...” he realized he was thinking aloud and stopped “Excuse me, I was...thinking about someone else.”

“Someone else?” who was he talking about?

“Before you, another human fell down here. However, despite being injured from the fall, he didn't suffer any memory loss.” I remembered about the vision I had when I was fighting Asriel half an hour ago: there was a high chance the human he was talking about was that one; knowing I wasn't the only one who ended up in that hellhole gave me comfort...but where was I?

“Where are we?”

“In my home, I thought I explained that before.” he looked at me funny.

“No, I mean...this place, in general.” I looked at him the same way he did, I didn't expect him to be that dumb.

“Oh, you really don't know?” he massaged his front with his index finger as he explained “This is the Underground, home of the monsters. We've been here for centuries, ever since you humans cast us down here.” the way he said that...he was surprised I didn't know that.

My amnesia wasn't making remembering easy, but I could swear I never heard of monsters cast underground before “Can you tell me more about it?”

He got up, and approached the fireplace: he lighted the fireplace with his dark magic, and now dark flames erupted in that chimney; as he looked at the flames, he explained “Long ago, two races ruled over Earth: monsters and humans. We hated you humans, and you hated us. We both believed to be the only ones worthy of living on the Surface. Eventually, we declared war against you, but even though we were more powerful and tough than you were, you were more determined. We lost the war, and the humans sealed us monsters underground with a magic spell, under the mountain known as Mount Ebott...” he turned towards me, and returned to his seat “Centuries passed, and we're all still down here. Most of us lost all hope to reclaim the Surface...but the King still tries. He's been trying ever since we were sealed underground: to break the barrier separating the Underground from the Surface...”

“A barrier?” I was interested by where this conversation was going towards.

“Yes, a barrier. Impassable by humans and monsters alike: everything can fall through the barrier, but nothing can exit it.” he looked towards me, his look was the same someone would give to a magnificent dessert “Except...a being with power equal to that of a human and monster SOUL combined: such a being could easily pass through the barrier...” he shook his head, his smile omnipresent “Unfortunately, you don't have such power, and you probably never will. Monster SOULs are too weak too survive after death, except Boss Monster SOULs...like mine. If you were to defeat me and steal my SOUL, well...there would be a chance for you to return to your world...”

“Really?” the fact that I had to kill someone didn't touch me: when he mentioned it was possible to escape that place I immediately opened my ears to whatever solution he could inform me of.

“Yes...too bad you'll never see the barrier...” he grabbed my chin with his paws, forcing me to look at him “My father...the King, he needs seven human SOULs to break the barrier: if you were to exit this place, if you were to venture into the Underground...you would die. A painful death too, if I may say so. And if you have to die, I want to be the executioner...” he freed me, as he continued “From now on, you'll live with me, and you shall do as I command. Whatever I tell you to, even if I tell you to do something you would deem masochist or suicidal, you shall do it because I say so. In exchange for that, I will keep you safe from him...forever.”

As he stood up, I got up from my chair as well “What do you want from me? What do you gain from all this?” I inquired, furious.

He looked...sad. Without his shit-eating grin, he didn't seem as evil as usual “...I guess I'm getting tired of living alone. I guess I'm bored living the same, boring life every single day. I guess...” he was about to say something, but he stopped as he said “I should be cooking dinner.” and there it was, that tremendous grin.

As he was going to the kitchen, I ran behind him whilst asking some more random questions, but he used his right paw to grab my head and send me flying through the air “Come on, you're my guest! You don't need to get up from the table!”

As I was flying, my vision blurred as weird images formed in my head...

 

_The monster brought me to a house in the middle of the labyrinthine city he called “Home”: it was as purple as the rest of the scenery, but I did find it quite lovely...of course, I could've observed it better if I was on my own two feet and it didn't hurt all over my body._

_He entered the doorless house, and looked around for something. “Seems like Mom and Dad are still out...I want to surprise them with you!” he walked through a hallway at his right and entered the first door: the room was filled with what you would expect from a child's bedroom: a bed, a wardrobe, and a huge assortment of...headless plushies? And not just headless, some of them were mutilated in various if not all sections of their bodies: a surgical work of untold perfection._

_If this bedroom belonged to the kid who had been carrying me until there...then I didn't end up in the right hands at all. “This is my room, what do you think?” it was his...great._

“ _Amazing, I never had a bedroom like this...” I tried to avoid talking about his tastes in toys, but I was sincere about the room: I had never been gifted such a room...but neither did I ever ask for it. Overall, when I still had a home I could call my own, I had a pretty good life even without having too much._

“ _Good, you'll be staying here until my parents come home, okay?” he let me fall onto the bed and smiled at me, but that wasn't a “happy” smile at all._

“ _S-Sure...after all, it's not like I'm going anywhere...” I joked, and he chuckled a bit._

“ _Now, you've told me your name, but I don't think I've told you mine: I'm Asriel Dreemurr, prince of monsterkind.” he took my hand and shook it vigorously: I could do nothing but say “It's a pleasure to meet you.”_

“ _It sure is.” he commented._

“ _Why do you want me to meet your parents?” I asked, foolishly._

“ _Well, because they've been wanting to see a human for as long as I can remember! I don't know what'll happen when they'll meet you, but I can tell they'll be furious!”_

“ _F-Furious? For what?” I was terrorized, for some reason._

“ _It's your race's fault we've been trapped down here for centuries, and I can tell every monster hates humans. Maybe they'll imprison you, maybe they'll hurt you: either way, I can already tell it's going to be hilarious to watch!”_

“ _Asriel, we're home!” a feminine voice called from the entrance, giving me the shivers._

“ _I'm coming, just a minute!” he was about to exit, but I asked him “Do you hate humans? Do you hate me?”_

_He looked towards me, as he answered “Yes, to both questions. If it wasn't for you and your kind, I would not be forced to live in such a...disgusting cave.” he exited the room, and went to meet his parents. I was scared, even though the day before I planned to die I now cared for my life once more...but I also felt sadness for that poor boy who, like me, didn't get to enjoy life as he should have. At least he still had his parents with him._

_I tried to forget the pain as I got up from the bed and stealthily exited the room: at first I wanted to escape from that house, but I couldn't do that because to do so I would've had to walk in front of the living room, where the monster from before was talking with two other similar-looking goat monsters “How has your day went?” he asked his parents._

“ _As usual, without trouble. Did you enjoy your day-off?” the woman asked him in return._

“ _As usual, without trouble.” I could see him smirking even without looking at him “Say, what would you do if a human fell down here?” he asked in a weird tone, a bit too childish for his character._

“ _Why are you asking me this?” the man inquired._

“ _Oh, you know...just asking.”_

“ _Well, I would imprison them and then I would absorb their SOUL.” he said, without hesitation. Just where did I fall exactly? And why was I alive to suffer through all this?_

“ _Oh, okay.” Asriel answered, a bit disappointed “I expected you to...I don't know, do something cooler with them.”_

“ _Why, did a human fall down here?” the monster asked, almost excitedly._

_I was about to run away, towards where I didn't know, but then I heard the little monster answer “No, as I said before I was just asking.”_

_Perhaps that affirmation should've helped my stress, assure me I was going to live through that...but for some reason, the only thing I imagined was that I was going to get into even greater troubles._

 

After feeding me some cooked meat and bread, Asriel forced me into an old room which I recognized as the one from my vision: same bed, same wardrobe, same damn plushies...I wondered how much time had passed since the events that happened in that vision occurred.

I would've loved to inquire Asriel about those visions, they seemed to happen only whenever I made physical contact with him...but he didn't want to talk about them so I had to shut up about it as well.

Despite accepting his proposal before, I didn't want to stay with him at all: even if I had to go through who knows what to get to freedom, I would've risked my life if it meant getting away from this psychopath. The visions weren't bettering his image either.

However, I was uncertain whether I should've tried escaping him now...or waited for a better opportunity the next day.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's this chapter's Strawpoll!  
> http://strawpoll.me/7013747
> 
> Next chapter comes out this Tuesday! See you there!


	5. Ruins: Engagement

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I decided to wait until next morning to escape.  
> After finding out what Asriel planned to do with me, I opted to leave that house immediately.  
> But he didn't like that choice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah. This chapter...  
> I got pretty "Dragon-ballsy".  
> ...  
> .....  
> .......What, you didn't get it? Oh, well...enjoy!

_[ACT: Wait]_

 

The day up to that point had been extremely tiring: all those battles had really worn me out, and I knew that escaping in that moment would've been too dangerous to handle. Not only would I've had to avoid being detected by that monster who thought of me only as his property, but I would've had to find supplies, shelter, and overall survive the night...was there even night in that place? I couldn't tell, even though Asriel told me it was way past 10:00 pm it didn't seem very different from when I first fell, which I hypothesized was around 6:00 pm.

Fighting my urges to escape that forsaken place, I slipped under the covers and tried to sleep, ignoring the eyes who were spying me from the darkness...seriously though, those plushies were creepy: for that night I could've survived their sight, but if I ever necessitated to sleep in that bed again, then I swore I would've burned them first.

 

Surprisingly enough, I slept very well: no nightmares to torment my rest nor dreams to make it easier; with all those visions about that past human who came before me, I suspected something...weird to happen at night, but the lack of any sort of entertainment only stimulated my curiosity.

I got up from bed and discovered I was tremendously hungry and a bit thirsty too; I exited the room hastily and started looking around for the monster who had slept under my same roof. Noises from the kitchen suggested he was there, probably preparing breakfast or doing who-knows-what.

I was about to enter the room as well, but then I stopped right before entering as I heard him talk to himself “What? You don't like my idea? Well, that's too bad!” he grabbed a huge cleaver and chopped something on the kitchen island, but I couldn't see what he was doing exactly as his enormous body was in the way “Did you seriously think I would've brought her here to be friends? You should've foreseen this a million years ago.” to who he was talking I had no idea, but when I apprehended he was talking about me I immediately widened my ears.

“Listen, I get it: she's human. So what? Does that make her any different from all the other “toys” before her? No...whether I treat her kindly or disrespectfully depends on my current mood and that only...look, just stop trying to convince me, I know you're weak like her but even though I care for you there's a reason I never let you decide. Her fate is sealed, she will entertain me for the rest of her days and that is settled.” he slammed the cleaver into the table as he finished “Now, let's go wake her up: breakfast is ready.”

I stealthily but quickly ran to the antechamber, pondering what to do: after hearing him say that, I honestly couldn't stay there a minute longer...my assumptions were right, he really did see me only as his plaything. However, I wasn't going to play that game: I wanted out of that house, out of that world, I wanted to return to my previous life, whatever life it was.

I spotted a set of stairs and remembered when yesterday I pondered where they might've led: I decided to discover it now. As I started descending, I saw Asriel making his way towards my...his...the bedroom: I knew I had a short window of time to act, so I decided to forfeit stealth and just run as fast as I could.

 

The stairs led to a creepy hallway which was poorly illuminated, it was so dark I couldn't see anything a few inches away from me: I knew, however, that I was getting somewhere, so I mustered up all my courage and kept running. The fear of the unknown was as big as the one of hitting something in the darkness with my face, since there were no plastic surgeons to remake my nose if the one I had got smashed.

Eventually, I arrived at the end of the hallway. The room was slightly bigger, maybe even slightly brighter, and there was a huge door like the one that connected the small garden at the start of the labyrinth to the labyrinth itself: something told me that the door was there for a reason, maybe to signify a change in the location. There was a chance the monster wouldn't have been able to follow me...but before I could verify it, I discovered he already did follow me: a wall of dark flames blocked my passage, illuminating the room and ending my run; when I turned around, I did expect to see the familiar face of Asriel Dreemurr, the monster who had been torturing me physically and psychologically ever since I arrived in that cursed land.

“Where are you going, exactly?” he didn't seem angry, he asked that question like it was a normal thing to ask, he expected a sincere answer; that was part of his tactic to confuse me.

“Away from you, you goddamn psycho!” I shouted at him, trying to look intimidating.

“That's a harsh word, don't you think?” he grabbed one of the lollipops he seemed to be eating constantly and put it in his mouth “What exactly do you plan to do once you eshcape?” he inquired, emotionless.

I hesitated, but I answered “I'm going to find an exit to this fucking place and return to my life!”

“Return to your life...” he walked a bit closer, nonchalantly “And what life are you going to return to, I wonder? You shaid it yourshelf, you have troublesh remembering your pasht.” I shivered, but I didn't back down “I'll tell you a shecret: there's no way shomeone would just “fall” down here, purposhelesshly: the other human, the one who fell here before you, he didn't fall here on accident. Sho, if you ended up where you are, it meansh that...you had a reashon to end your life...”

I didn't know how to retort to that accusation, he opened a wound too wide to possibly ignore: if what he said was true, then...I wanted to kill myself...why would I ever want to do that? I would've preferred even the most tremendous and humiliating life to the hell I had to go through to survive in that place.

He stopped feeding on his lollipop as he continued “I told you, I'm not a good guy. If you were to stay with me, I would hurt you...a lot. But at least you would stay alive, you would stay healthy. You would keep me company, and I would keep company to you: we, you and I, are very similar...” the thought of being like the motherfucker who dared to say such nonsense disgusted me “Will you accept? For real, this time?” he finally asked.

“I accept...” I got in a fighting stance “To kick your sorry ass!” I preferred death over a miserable life, and I was ready to accept the consequences of my decision.

The monster laughed, an insanely distorted laugh only a madman could have “You know, I never had the chance to see how a human body looks like _on the inside_...” I would've had to fight him in order to proceed, but I had no choice...and even if I did have a choice, I would've opted for it anyway.

I charged him with all my might, hoping to kick him in the face with my right feet, but when I jumped a few feet away from him to land the hit he grabbed my foot and stopped me mid-air: he flipped me backwards and, while I was busy recovering from the hit I just took, he punched me hard in the stomach, sending me flying backwards. I landed on my butt and then on my head, but I managed to stand up and get ready for his next attack: instead of attacking physically, he decided to use his magic, sending a wave of dark flaming bullets aimed specifically at my face.

I skillfully dodged the bullets by an inch, even though they were bigger than the other monsters' bullets and slightly faster, and started attacking once more: I tried punching him once again, but he just grabbed my fist and armlocked me. I could feel his cold and yet warm breath on my neck, whispering to me even while fighting “Have you not understood it yet? You're _mine_ now. You're nothing more than my toy, absolutely nothing more. I will play with you, however I please...but before I can do that...” he pushed me to the ground, but he still held the grip tight on my arm; with the help of his right feet, he blocked my every movement as he continued “...I have to break you.”

I felt my arm's skin cut and lacerate, and blood come out of it: I screamed, but to no avail. I was weak, too weak to fight back. He reached the wound with his mouth and sucked the blood, moaning in pleasure as he licked every last drop “Your blood is...delicious...even tastier than his...” he stopped for a second, probably to clean his mouth, “...This is a sensation I haven't felt in years...I should've done this yesterday when I first found you...”

I was tired of his bullshit, so I put all my strength in my armlocked fist and dragged the monster down to the ground; he didn't expect that, and so I managed to get up and jump away from him. I checked my wound: it wasn't too deep, he probably used his fingernails to cut it; since I didn't have anything to bandage it with, I had to stop paying attention to it and continue the fight.

Once more I tried to assault the monster and once more he deflected the hit, only to hit me hard the second after; I was getting used to the feeling of cold stone on my cheeks, and deafening laughter in my ears “Come on, I thought you wanted to live! Where is that fire in your eyes I saw while fighting the other day? Where is the hatred, the violence, the power?” he got closer, I could feel him approach me but I was too tired to do anything “Don't worry, you'll always have a _special place in my heart_...once I'll take your SOUL, that is...” he laughed once more, like the villain of a video-game would “...We'll be together forever, you and I...”

I didn't have enough strength to fight back: I was weak.

I didn't have enough courage to fight back: I was cowardly.

I didn't have a reason to fight back: I was...empty. Even if I won that battle, even if had defeated the monster in front of me, I would've had to deal with my fate: I was alone, in a land whose denizens hated me just because I existed, and I was scared. I wanted to die, I wanted to be set free.

But, in that moment...in that moment all hope was lost, where all my dreams died...I regained something...the will to go forward, the will to achieve victory...the will to not die and continue no matter the odds, no matter the challenge...

My survival instinct rekindled.

I slammed the floor with my two hands, creating a shocking field of lightning: even though I couldn't see him since I had my face still on the ground, I could feel the monster jumping away to dodge the hit. I got up, looking at him with his same eyes: eyes of madness, eyes of superiority.

“Asriel...do you know what time it is?” I asked as a wide grin started forming on my face.

“N-No...” he answered, he was a bit scared but he was still trying to keep his composure. A weird sound started propagating in the air, like a very soft guitar.

“It's time...to be bad!” the sound intensified, as more and more instruments arrived: a symphony so hard rock I could feel the blood pumping in my veins “Cha-la, Head Cha-la...” a voice started singing in the distance, perfectly audible. I couldn't understand the words of the song, but it's presence alone gave me the strength to continue.

“No, wait, you're hearing this song as well?” the monster looked everywhere, searching for the source of the noise, to no avail: it was a sound in the wind, untraceable, unobtainable.

He didn't have the time to turn back towards me and block the powerful fist, he flew through the air a few feet before landing ruinously on his back; he got up in a fraction of a second and tried hitting me with his own fist as fast as he could: I lowered my body as to not get hit, then grabbed his arm by underneath him and uppercut him with my right fist, except this time it was sparkling with lightning.

As the monster was flying in the air, I leaped behind him and started following up with a barrage of kicks aimed all over him, all sparkling with shocking power; after gravity did it's work and brought the monster to the ground once more, I touched the ground as well and regained distance, returning to a fighting stance.

“This...this can't be happening...” he moaned, as he got up once more; the music in the background was doing a good job at accompanying me, bolstering my every move as if I was an instrument in that harmony of dissonance. Yeah, without music my triumph would've been much less epic.

The monster launched another wave of flaming projectiles at me, but this time I didn't even need to dodge them: I stood on one leg only, my left one, and with the other one I kicked all the fires into dust, proceeding at lightning speed. I could _feel_ the monster shiver in fear as he recognized he made one, huge mistake at underestimating me. And he was going to regret it.

I dashed towards him and hit him hard with my fist, then I quickly hit him once more...then again...and again...soon, I was chaining together an incredible amount of punches, all as successful as the first and powerful as a sharp dagger; after using all the strength I had, I summoned even more strength to uppercut the monster and finish the battle. He tried to stop me by guarding, but he was no match to my fury: my lightning-spewing fist broke through his blocking arms and hit him under his chin, sending him flying as he exclaimed “Im...possible...” only to fall on the ground and fall unconscious.

-K.O., asshole- I commented in my head, while finishing the spinning move.

Not satisfied with my victory, I decided to yell at him “I fucking did it, eat my shit.” I then showed him the finger (even though he wasn't awake to actually see it) and symbolized that he could very well shove it up his butt.

Suddenly, his eyes opened, making me jump backwards “Relax, I'm not going to kill you.” he reassured me, his voice extremely different from the one he used to unsettle me during the fight “I just...want to talk...” his attitude was very uncommon as well.

“Who...are you?” I asked; you might find it a very unfitting question to ask, but I had my reasons to do so.

“I'm...Chara...” reasons who were supported by facts “I would love to say it's a pleasure...but it really isn't, is it?” he managed to get up from the floor and sit against the wall.

“It is.” I told him “What happened after what I saw?” I wasn't surprised in the slightest to see that the human who came before me was actually _inside_ of the monster who tried to kill me...it was a bit weird, but it explained why those visions were from his perspective and not from Asriel's.

“A lot of things happened...” he started “I became Asriel's toy, but...eventually, I came to understand him a little bit. And in the end...I ruined his life. At least I managed to limit the damages...but he payed a huge price to keep his life intact.” he started crying, his tears were as red as his eyes “Knowing it's all my fault doesn't help feeling better...if only I had never come down here, I...I...”

“Geez, you really are a crybaby.” I mocked him, feeling sorry right afterwards. I tried apologizing, but he stopped me “You're right, I've always been a crybaby...listen, it's my fault he tried to make you into his new toy: I tried to convince him to keep you alive, and in the end...I worsened everything.”

“It's fine, at least I'm still alive.” I excused him.

“Look, as far as I see it you're as good as dead.” he admitted, without hesitating.

“Thanks a lot, dick.” I taunted him.

“I would suggest you to kill yourself, but you don't seem...at least I don't think you are a girl who would ever do that: you should venture through that door, and...see where fate leads you, that is all. There's a high chance you might die, though, and I would suggest you to die of natural causes than by a monster's hands: believe me, spending life inside of someone else isn't funny at all.” he ended, looking elsewhere.

I wasn't sure of what to do but, even though my mind was elsewhere, I ended up asking “Do you want me to kill you?”

I was considering why I offered him...death, but he just shrugged it off “Even though I would love some peace after all this time, I can't accept it if it comes at the price of Asriel's life. I've made my choice a long time ago, and am ready to face the consequences...” I admired him for staying true to his ideals...whatever those were. But before I could leave him alone, he ended up admitting “But, in the end, my life is a kaleidoscope of bad choices: perhaps I should accept your offering and quietly welcome death in my spirit.”

I now had two choices before me: eliminate the monster who had been plaguing me since yesterday evening, which might've resulted in a positive long-term outcome, or leave him alone in his demise.

I was sorry for this human being...Chara, but right now I had to consider...which one, between ignoring him and killing him, was the most merciful option.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would like you to ponder both on Chara's words and your own advice before voting.  
> This isn't a decision to take lightly, as it will impact the story...even if not in the way you might expect it.  
> Anyways, here's this chapter's Strawpoll!  
> http://strawpoll.me/7029943
> 
> Next chapter comes out this Saturday! And I can already promise you it's going to be...weird.


	6. Ruins: Judgement

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I decided to leave the monster alone...but he didn't decide to do the same.  
> Then, we both met three weird animals...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Every "Underground section" will end with a chapter like this one.  
> These are funnier and less plot-driven than the other chapters, but they're as important as the other chapters.  
> You won't get to vote at the end of these, which is a bit sad...but starting from next chapter we'll return to our habitudinal Strawpoll.  
> Good luck understanding this, it's pretty freaking complicated!

_[Mercy: Spare]_

 

Despite the pity, despite the compassion I felt for that poor man, I decided to spare his life: I wasn't anyone to tell how someone should've lived his life, and if he decided to torture himself like that...then I had to respect his choice, and let him live as he wanted to.  
“Take care of yourself.” I recommended, as I turned my back towards the monster and headed towards the door.

“I think I can do that, thank you.” I tried to turn around to block the attack but I couldn't: the human whom I had talked with for the past minute was already gone, that twisted and evil persona had awakened without me noticing and was threatening me once more, holding me tight from behind and blocking my movement.

“Did you really think that I would've let you flee like that?” he tightened the grip, I felt suffocating and I couldn't even utter anything “Ridiculous.” he turned me around and started heading towards his house “Now, let us return-”

I couldn't bare the thought of returning to that prison, so I used all the strength I regained in the time conversing with Chara and I pressed against the monster, trying to make him walk backwards: he got caught off-guard, and we both retroceded at least a few feet, closer and closer to the door.

He tried talking, but all he could do was mutter something almost inaudible, probably an insult or an offense; the door was getting closer and closer, I would've evaded even if I had to bring that monster with me to do so.

In the end, we stopped: the door was right behind us, and Asriel was trying his best to not let me push him further. “F-Frisk...stop...right now...” he tried to say something, but I was pushing against his stomach and lungs simultaneously so he struggled even to breath. I just had to use some more strength, some more power...

We both fell on our backsides, me on top of him: the door had opened, and we were on the other side. I tried to get up, but Asriel jumped to his feet in a fraction of a second and tried to reach for the door: all in vain, as the door shut in front of us, making him stop mid-way. He was looking towards the door, so I couldn't see his face, but I could see him...shivering?

“You...” he turned towards me, slowly: his expression was a mixture of both anger and...fear, a tremendous fear “You don't have ANY ideas about what you just did?” he stepped towards me, knelt to his knees and grabbed me by the breast “That door can only open from the inside! That means we're stuck here!”

He let me go and started circling around the small space that was between me and the door, mumbling something to himself: I pondered...if I left him there, then he probably wouldn't have noticed me go away...but instead, I asked him “Do you mind explaining our situation better?”

He once again turned towards me and explicated “The door can't be opened from the outside: it can only be opened from the inside...unless you have a key, of course.”

“A key?” this seemed very far-fetched, a door that could only be opened from the inside...from what I understood, he came from this “outside”, so there had to be a way to open the door from where we were.

“Yes, a key...there are only two keys that can open this door: one of them is inside my house, the other one...” he gulped and grabbed his horns with his paws, trembling “...is in the hands of my parents...” of course, that made sense: what parents doesn't have a key to his son's house these days?

“Well, what's the deal then? You can just go to your parents, and-”

“You.” he once again reached me and grabbed me tightly “You don't know anything about me! About us...you don't know what happened! My parents...they...” he let go once more and kept minding his business.

I was getting tired of him, so I finally decided to leave by taking advantage of his temporary madness...when I heard a weird voice behind me “That was amazing! We did really good, didn't we?” extremely strange, it sounded like a mixture between a normal and high-pitched voice...it sounded feminine, but I couldn't tell.

“Yeah, we did...can you remind me why we did that again?” another voice, this one seemed to belong to a male: once again, it was like the speaker was talking through helium.

“Because we had to...look, we have to prepare ourselves: they're coming right now!” yet another voice, slightly masculine as well even if not as powerful as the other one.

“What is happening over there?” the monster behind me decided to stop panicking and return to his usual self “We should go there immediately.” he grabbed me by the jacket and forced me to walk with him: I was still very tired, but he didn't seem to be hurt at all despite blacking out for a few minutes.

 

We reached the end of yet another long corridor, when we entered a small room: it was just a small antechamber before another huge door, which I assumed led to the “outside”...the floor had an incision, which resembled the one that was carved on both the door and the monster's robe. The incision was like glowing, making the room look brighter yet not too much: it was still not powerful enough to blind me, nor to let me admire the room in it's fullest.

In the center of the room, three...it still sounds stupid even to think about it...anyways, three...cats were talking to each other: they didn't seem like normal cats though, as they were all standing on their hinder legs and they all possessed a pair of wings, all unique in their form and color.

“They're here!” the middle cat pointed at us and urged the other ones to turn towards me.

“Uh, hi?” I was too shocked to take that situation seriously, but they didn't seem hostile so I tried being friendly.

“Hi!” the one on my left greeted me: the female voice I heard before was hers, she was a cat with white fur and black, angel-like wings...she seemed very cute, all things considered.

“Hello.” this one was the one on my right: he had a grave voice, and his fur was pitch black; his wings were demon-like and white, which didn't make any sense...even though he tried to look cool by folding his arms, he still looked cute.

“Greetings.” the one in the middle was very...formal: he was the one who advised the other two, and he seemed like a male; his right side was white, while his left side was black. On his head, the two sides converged into what looked like a yin-yang symbol, except it looked more like a heart than a...whatever shape that symbol resembled. His wings were the weirdest, they weren't attached to his body and instead fluctuated into the air behind him: they were...almost psychedelic, since all the colors of the rainbow were appearing and disappearing every second on those wings.

“Are you...monsters?” I asked, extremely confused. I came to learn that all monster wanted to hurt me, since I was a human: those who didn't attack me were either too busy minding their own business...or were trying to lure me into a trap.

“No, they're not.” Asriel stepped forward, now he was on my right, slightly ahead of me “They look like monsters...but I sense power from them. Something...too intense to belong to a monster.” he seemed very convinced of his own words, but I had troubles believing him: if those weren't monsters, who were they? What were they?

“Very clever.” the middle one congratulated the monster; he seemed to be the leader of the small group “You're right, we're not monsters. We're...something more.”

“Something more?” I asked, shocked.

“Yes...but now is not the time to talk about that: in fact, I think it's time we introduce ourselves.” he looked at his companions, expecting a reaction.

“Excuse me, can I ask you something?” the black cat asked the middle one.

“Sure, what do you want?”

“Can you tell me again why are we cats?” he was definitely pissed “Why in the world are we cats?”

“Because cats are cute.” he simply answered, and the white cat nodded as if agreeing with what he said “Besides, we need camouflages if we're to pass unobserved.”

The black cat couldn't argue with what the yin-yang one said: he looked elsewhere as he complained “This is stupid...so freaking stupid...”

“Oh, and please don't tell them your real names.” the middle cat advised “It would be spoilers, and we don't want that to happen.” at this point I couldn't even follow their reasoning: I looked over to Asriel, who was just as lost as I was from the looks of it.

“...Fine. If I can't use my real name, then I want to be “Death”. Sounds cool, don't you think?” the black cat chose what I saw as an incredibly stereotypical name for a “bad boy” character.

“It's a bit cliché, don't you think?” the white cat argued.

“Death is a cliché that never gets old.” he cut short the conversation.

“That is...deep.” Asriel commented, fascinated by the cat's statement.

The white cat...posed: she seemed extremely cute while doing so “Then I want to be “Felicity”! It certainly sounds happier than death!” the other two cats looked at her a bit disappointed, but didn't say anything.

“Then, I suppose I should be “Karma”. It fits my role, doesn't it?” the other two cats gave him a thumbs-up, but weren't fully convinced.

“What role?” I inquired; I wasn't understanding anything: if I wasn't certain of my mental health, I would've justified what I had seen so far as an incredibly realistic LSD trip.

Suddenly, the lights coming from the floor vanished: for a second, the room was in complete darkness...until a light came from above, illuminating me like I was the sole actor playing in a theater, in front of a crowd I couldn't even see. Then, I found out I wasn't the only actor in that play: the yin-yang cat...Karma, or whatever he said his name was, was illuminated by a similar light: just then I realized his eyes were one white and one black, like his fur color. Weird.  
“Now, here's what I've been waiting for this entire time...” he slowly walked towards me, and I readied myself for anything; he stopped, and looked at me in the eyes “Now, you will be judged. Your actions, your thoughts, your reasons...everything will be considered and, in the end, I will emit a decree.”

“What?” if I was confused before, I don't know how to describe how I was feeling back then.

“Relax, it's not that difficult.” he slightly shook his head “You just need to listen to me, okay?”

Since trying to understand was causing me a severe headache, I decided to do as he told me to and listen; “Good, then let me explain.” he paused before continuing “We'll now look together at some of the decisions you took while exploring the Underground. These decisions...they weren't automatic decisions, they weren't impulsive, reckless acts: those were pondered, cunningly executed. So, they came from within you...I'm sure that, in your stay down here, I will accumulate enough material to understand you in your fullest. So, are you ready to begin?”

If I understood correctly, then he wanted to review my decisions...to understand me better; I asked, to be sure “But why do you want to do this? What do you want from me?”

“That, unfortunately, is an answer that has to wait. I will tell you eventually, but it's best you don't ask a lot of questions right now...after all, you must already be disoriented enough.” he chuckled a bit, before rubbing his hands and announcing “So, let us begin.”

“ **First off, when you first encountered Asriel, you had three possibilities: you could've attacked him, even though you weren't sure if he was good or evil, talked with him, again without knowing how he would've reacted, or escaped, with the risk of him...not taking it very well. You chose to talk, but I wonder: why? Why did you choose that option? The only conclusion I arrived to was that you were trying to** _ **buy some time**_ **. Let me explain: you knew, from your very first encounter with that monster, that he wasn't a normal person. But you weren't sure if he was...good but slightly mad, or utterly evil. So, you tried to scan him by conversing with him...a plan that miserably failed, but that's not the point.** _ **You didn't try to converse because you wanted to “be friends” with him, but only because you wanted to survive: keep in mind, I do not consider that a “bad” decision as, in the end, you did try to be “good” with him.**_

**Next, when Asriel captured you and you were too tired to defend yourself from him, you had two choices in order to survive: fight back, even though you weren't in the right physical shape to do so, or call for help, which was...actually rather pointless, considering that there was** _**no one who could've possibly helped you** _ **. Now, if we omit that in the end someone did save you for some reason that's too idiotic to consider, I have to admit that this choice is very important: you could've either resorted to** _**use your inner strength** _ **or** _**use your outer strength, aka your bonds and similar...which you didn't have at the time** _ **. Maybe,** _**your choice of calling for help even though it seemed ridiculous and pointless is a sign of you knowing you're not ready to confront this world alone...** _ **but that is going too far, I'm sounding unrealistic now. I think it's best we continue on...we're lacking the evidence to press further.**

**Next, you had the choice of accepting Asriel's request or not...two equally interesting outcomes, I would say: if you were to accept,** _**you would've become his lapdog in exchange for shelter and protection** _ **, while if you refused** _**you would've experienced a very bad time** _ **. In the end, your choice of accepting and putting yourself in danger like that** _**wasn't completely reckless, as it was statistically the option with the highest survival rate** _ **. One would argue that “it's best to be free and dead than captive and well”, but we're no-one to judge, are we? So, I respect your decision...I wouldn't have had the balls to say no either, if I have to be honest. Besides, there's curiosity...**

**But enough of that, let's go on. When Asriel forced you in that bedroom, you had two choices: evading during the night...sort of, or wait for a chance the following day. Now, there's nothing I can say on this decision: you weren't interacting with someone else, so I can't judge it good or bad...but I can say that** _**your choice of waiting expresses insecurity and lack of confidence; however, you can also say it shows thoughtfulness and patience** _ **. Surely, it denotes that** _**your personality and your thoughts don't affect your actions, nor how do you relate with others** _ **. Eventually, you'll understand what I mean...maybe, I will too!**

**Last but not least, you had to choose if** _ **Asriel and Chara deserved to live or not**_ **. In the end, the real question was:** _ **which, between life and death, was the most merciful option**_ **? By choosing to let them live,** _ **you prolonged the human's suffering**_ **...but perhaps, that is not correct:** _ **he did assure you he was ready to live by his friend's side for all eternity, if necessary**_ **. So, you acted trusting Chara, which I find...normal, maybe slightly positive. Yeah, that will do.** ”

After hearing the cat's speech, I had to ask a question “So, what do you think of me?”

“It's too early to judge you: I have to observe you for a longer time to give a definitive answer...but so far, you're doing great! As long as you survive, it's fine whatever you do. Keep that in mind as you progress.”

The lights turned off, and the room returned as before, with the light coming from the weird incision on the floor.

“I hope it was entertaining.” Asriel commented.

“Wait, you mean you saw all that?” I asked, a bit upset.

“Yes, I did. You seemed like in a trance, so I tried to wake you up, to no avail...but it was fun to watch you and listen to that guy, he really is objective in his reasoning...” it was good he understood what he said, because I partially didn't.

“Also, how did you know all that? I never saw you in...the Ruins, or whatever that labyrinth is called.” I pointed out to Karma.

“We're always watching.” Death answered.

“Always listening.” Felicity continued.

“Always judging.” Karma finally ended.

“That is...creepy...” I admitted.

“It is, isn't it?” Felicity supported me “But we can't help it, watching you is incredibly amusing!”

“Also, I noticed you tend to fight better if there's...musical background.” Karma told me, looking away “So I decided to follow you through your journey and support you with our musical skills.”

“Wait, what?” what did he mean by that?

The white cat explained by making a guitar appear out of thin air and singing that same song I heard before, whilst fighting Asriel “Hikaru kumo o tsukinuke _Fly Away..._ _Karadajû ni hirogaru panorama_ _...”_ yeah, that was definitely the song.

“So, it was you.” Asriel shook his head, a smile forming on his face “Yes, if what you did helped her bring out her true potential, I'll allow you to continue.”

Was he still treating me like his toy? “Hey, why don't you shut up? I beat you by myself, without their help!”

The black cat, Death, turned towards me, before bursting in laughter as the monster did, perfectly synchronized “That was the funniest joke I heard today!”

“W-What do you mean? Stop making fun of me!” I yelled, uselessly.

“He let you win, that's what happened.” the black cat told me.

“W-What?” I looked towards the monster, who had a playful look on his face “It's true, it's true...I did let you win.” he seemed a bit ashamed of that too!

“If he used all his power...you would've been dead before even starting.” Death finished, making me fall quiet whilst he and the monster kept chuckling.

“Anyways, it's time we go.” Karma told his companions “We've broken the fourth wall enough for today...” and once again, another phrase I couldn't understand...but didn't he say he would've come with me?

I explicated my doubts to the cat, who answered “Oh, we're going to follow you...from a safe distance. Because if we followed you wherever you went, we would steal the show from you!” the trio rallied in the center of the room and waved at us “Bye!” “Later.” “We'll meet again...” those were their parting words, before they disappeared.

After they were gone, I stared at Asriel for a few minutes, and he returned the stare; in the end, he decided to make things clear “You're still my pet: after all, you're putting me through an incredibly dire situation...”

I didn't know what to do, I was clueless as to how to proceed, so I asked “What do we do now?”

“What do we do...we go take that key back, that's what we do.” and so it was settled.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As I said before, no Strawpoll today.  
> Also, if you have theories on the cats, I would suggest you not to share them: the cats' identities are already pretty obvious, but there are people here that are clueless and I would love them to remain that way. You can still comment about them, but if you try to reveal their identities I will delete your comment instantly.  
> Anyways, have a nice weekend!


	7. Snowland: Friend?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the encounter with those weird cats, I set out on my journey with Asriel.  
> After getting in a frosty biome, I met two weird monsters...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some of my older fans have been waiting for this moment a long time!  
> And personally, I've been too... =3  
> I hope you like what I have in store for you, I will see you later!

_When I fought against those monsters, in the Ruins, I spared their life: even if they wanted to hurt me, even if they tried to kill me, I let them live. When I fought against Asriel, yet again I decided to let him live: the circumstances were different, since if I killed him I would've had to kill an innocent person as well, but it didn't feel too different from sparing normal monsters._

_Why, I wonder._

_Why did I spare their lives, why did I care about them if they didn't return the favor?_

_The only answer I found in my SOUL was this: because they didn't deserve it. I didn't deserve it either, for that matter. So, as there was no reason to hurt me, there was no reason to hurt them as well._

_But if they tried to hurt me again...I would've made them pay for it._

 

I stood in front of the gigantic door, ready for the journey I was about to embark on: I knew that, after I had walked through that door, a new world would've opened for me...the “barrier” was far, far away, and I would've had to reach it if I wanted to escape.

Next to me stood my captor, my torturer...but surprisingly, also my helper: Asriel Dreemurr. Man, that name still feels weird as heck. His plan was to lead me to the key, return back to the Ruins and return to his life, with me by his side...as his pet, of course.

My plans were a bit different though.

“Frisk, I would like to inform you that, after we open this door, we will arrive in Snowland.” he explained.

“Snowland? What kind of corny name is that?” I asked.

“Let me finish: the temperature there is tremendously low, so it would be advisable to bring warm clothes.” he finished that with a small smile, ironic and slightly angry “Which are in my home. Which we cannot enter.”

“No fucks given.” I answered him, trying to look cool “Some cold won't stop me.”

“That's the spirit!” he beamed of radiance as he pinched my cheek “You're sooo brave!” ironic as fuck, if that wasn't obvious.

Finally, we decided to open the door: it opened slowly, making a loud creaking noise while doing so. On the other side of the door, an immense snowy forest expanded before my eyes, seemingly unlimited. Maybe it really was unending, the fog was too dense to judge.

Asriel was right, it was very cold indeed, but I didn't care. I was too busy trying to figure out how was there snow in a cave to mind. I did, however, ask him if he was freezing.

“Absolutely not...” he grabbed some of the fur on his head and grinned “I have fur. Why, are you regretting your words already?”

“Absolutely not.” I gave him the finger “I don't give a damn.”

“Well then, we should get going...” he started moving forward, but I could still see him smirking “...Before you freeze to death...”  
I was mad as hell, but I was tired of arguing and taunting each other so I stayed quiet and followed him. While traveling through what looked like a path in the snow, I looked around, curious: we were surrounded by trees, only and exclusively by trees. They looked like pines, or at least I thought so; their branches were drowning in snow and ice but, despite that, I think the frost actually made those trees look cooler.

I had an ominous feeling, as if...something was following us: sometimes, I looked at what looked like a tree, then blinked and saw it gone. It was hard to see in the fog, so I was becoming quite paranoid...or so I thought.

Suddenly, Asriel stopped me by blocking my path with his arm, a dead serious expression on his face “Stay where you are.” he wasn't speaking as usual, his voice didn't have that...ironic hint to it.

“What's going on?” I asked, a bit upset.  
“There's something...up ahead.” so my suspicions were correct, something was stalking us...but how could it be in front of us? If a monster was following us, they would be behind us...or on our sides, at least.

A figure appeared in the fog, a few feet ahead of us: it was small, but I couldn't identify it...it was around the size of those “cats” from before, that was for sure; maybe, it was another one of them...but I still raised my guard, expecting a fight.

The creature walked enough close to us to let me admire it in it's entirety: it was small like those cats, but it didn't look like one. The monster had thick white fur, just like Asriel's, but also short gray hair. She had two sets of ears: two of them were similar to a cat's ears, while the other two...were like two mini-bowling balls attached to her face.. She had small paws with opposable thumbs and small feet.

What distinguished her from the cats from before was that she was actually wearing something: a yellow and blue striped sweater, black formal pants and a brown coat that reminded me of a sleuth for some reason. She also wore glasses, which enhanced the beauty of her small, green eyes.

“H-Hello?” she greeted us, a bit shyly.

“Hi.” I saluted her.

“Hoi, I'm Temmie!” she answered, looking a bit happier; it only lasted an instant, as she quickly returned to her shyness “Oh, sorry...that was uncalled for.”

“Okay...who exactly are you?” I was a bit surprised by this...unconventional monster.

“I-It's not important...” she looked kinda sad, to be honest “Just...a girl who's passing by.”

“That's a bit vague.” Asriel pointed out; even if he wasn't showing it, I knew he was ready for anything just as I was “Mind explaining?”

“Well...” she was reluctant to talk about it, or so it looked “...Let's just say I'm hiding from someone...” she looked at us, and then her expression brightened up “Hey, maybe you can help me!”

“What?” Asriel was perplexed “How so?”

“You can be my body-” she quickly redacted “My collaborators, yes! You can act as my...entourage while we keep hiding from them!”

“Look girl, I understand you're in trouble.” I answered for the both of us “But right now, we've got our hands full as well...besides, we're going exactly where you came from.”

“Hmm...you do seem very dangerous and powerful, so maybe that's not a problem.” she seemed determined to get it her way.

“Look, we really don't have time to-”

“I will pay you.” she interrupted me “A lot too.”

“My, why didn't you say so before!” Asriel walked in front of me, covering my view and cutting me out of the conversation “Of course you can come with us, and of course we can help you defend against whoever is your enemy.”

I looked at him slightly angry, I thought he wanted this journey of ours to be solitary and untroubled; he closed his eyes and shook his head, as he justified his actions “I always had a thing for shiny coins. I can't say no to the power of economy.”

The monster was so happy to hear we were going to let her come with us she started running and jumping around, then she finally jumped all the way atop of me and sat on my head “Off we go, then!” she was surprisingly light for someone her size, I expected her to be at least as heavy as a soccer ball but instead she was just as light as a feather...or a plushie. Those things would've haunted me forever, I was sure of it.

“You said your name was Temmie, am I correct?” Asriel inquired her as we continued walking through the forest path, her still on my head.

“Yes, it is: Temmie Cha-Ching, nice to meet you, partners!”

“Nice to meet you as well...my client. I'm Asriel, and she's my human pet, Frisk.” he didn't hesitate to call me his pet in front of others: I felt my rage boiling inside of me as I complained “Can you please get off my head?”

“Oh, am I disturbing you? I can get off if you want...” she was about to get off me, but I interrupted her “No, no: thinking twice about it, it's fine, you can stay there.” she was awfully nice, so I decided to let her rest above my head: unlike the other monster I had met so far, she didn't seem to mind the fact I was a human...

Then, I spotted a ravine in the middle of the snowy road: it was impossible to jump through it, even considering my formidable parkour skills I wouldn't have made it for sure; I didn't know how deep the chasm was, nor did I want to find out.

The only way to get across the abyss was a wooden bridge, simple and, from the looks of it, extremely unsafe: not only was it very narrow, but it didn't have protections either and the risk of falling into the void was too high for my tastes.

I saw Temmie take something out of her pocket: a tiny calculator, which she started fiddling with. “According to my calculations, that bridge is 99% spooky and 1% perfectly normal.”

“What sort of calculation is that?” I asked, weirded.

“I'm used to make these sorts of computations. Anyways, it seems enough stable to allow you to pass without it...well, breaking.” she was confident in her words...I wish I could've said the same.

“Didn't you pass through here to get to us?” Asriel asked, a bit suspicious “If you did, then why did you say “It seems”?”

“Well...I took a few shortcuts on the road. And I didn't pass through here.”

“So there is a way to get through using this bridge.” I would've preferred anything than being forced to use that crappy overpass.

“Unfortunately, it would require too much time: you seem to be in a hurry, so I would suggest you muster up your courage and cross that bridge.” she tried to encourage me by raising her tiny fist, which made me chuckle a bit but didn't gave me enough courage to feel confident.  
“I will go first.” Asriel announced: he took Temmie into his hands and started crossing the bridge. He never hesitated and always moved forward: after not even twenty seconds he had reached the other side of the ravine. “Now, it's your turn.” he beckoned me, making me become red of embarrassment.

I approached the bridge and made the unforgivable mistake of looking downwards: the ravine didn't seem to have an end at all, it was pitch black down there. If I fell, my death would've been unexpected...but at least it would've been quick and almost painless.

I made the first step, then a second one, then a third one: I was walking on the bridge, trying to look forward and not think about the deadly abyss that was right below me...

-Oh my god, I fear heights- I couldn't believe it, of all things I had met in that hellish world so far the only thing that scared me more than death were heights. I felt so childish, I should've been braver than that.

Until I suddenly stopped.  
I wanted to make another step, but I couldn't: I looked towards Asriel and Temmie, but they were just as shocked as me. “Behind you.” the goat monster fueled my fears, as I heard a deep voice coming from right behind me “Human...don't ya know how to greet a new pal?”

I surely had someone behind me, another monster...and from his voice I understood he wasn't as peaceful and friendly as Temmie was “Turn around and shake my hand.” he commanded.

Without me actually wanting to do so, my body turned against my will and I was now facing...something I couldn't quite recognize, it was as if my view got blurred for a second; nevertheless, I grabbed the hand of that monster...it was cold, and stiff, and...skeletal, and-

My heart accelerated when I pulled the hand...no, the arm out of some kind of sleeve and held it in the air: at first, I was scared...then I realized it was a prop. I threw the joke into the ravine.

“Heh, the old severed arm trick...it always gets 'em.” I took a better look at the monster in front of me: it was a skeleton, but it looked very different from a human skeleton...he was as tall as me, and his skull looked kinda weird...

The teeth were like Asriel's fangs: as sharp as daggers. One of them was golden, but I didn't really care: it was probably fake anyway. The eyesockets were as obscure as darkness itself: there were two red lights coming from within those eyesockets, which I hypothesized were his...eyes, or something similar, but they didn't enlighten the inside of the skull at all. In fact, they only made them look darker...

He was wearing a simple red shirt and a black jacket with some...white fur to decorate it. I didn't want to know whose fur was that, if it belonged to an animal...or something else. He wore black shirts and red and white sneakers.

“Nice shirt.” he complimented my clothing as he pointed at my chest: when I looked downwards, he hit me in the nose with his skeletal finger “Ha, ya fell for it again.”

I ran backwards all the way to Asriel and Temmie, but I made the mistake of blinking mid-way: when I did, I discovered to my horror that the skeleton was gone.

“Looking for someone?” I jumped as I found out he was behind me: how did he do that? Could he...teleport, or do something similar?

Asriel seemed as puzzled as I was “Excuse me, how can you do that?”

“Uh, magic ya idiot.” he had no respect for him whatsoever: I liked this guy, he had guts...which was rather ironic, to say the least. “Anyway, ya look like a human.” he was talking with me.

“And you look like an asshole.” I answered in return.

“'Guess we already figured out each other.” the lights within his eyes disappeared while he was saying that, making him look slightly more intimidating, but they returned to normality right afterwards “Anyway, name's Sans.” he tended his hand, but I knew he was trying to trick me once more: I grabbed it and pulled it once again, revealing another fake limb. “Nice, you're smarter than I thought.”

I was a bit suspicious of this guy, he seemed...extremely dangerous. I needed to be cautious around him...I felt like I could never lower my guard near him.

“Aren't you a bit...unsettled that she's a human?” Asriel asked the monster, perplexed; I was about to punch him in the stomach, that phrase was in the “list of things not to tell to a potential murderous psychopath”.

“Nah, technically I should be on watch for humans, but...well, I'm really not feeling like it.” he scratched his back with his right hand and asked “Say, what's yer names?”

Asriel walked behind me and sat his head atop of mine, his hands were...once again on my breast “My name's A...Arisel, the critter atop my head is Temmie and the little motherfucker below me is my human pet Frisk.” I freed myself from his grasp and looked at him straight in the eyes, infuriated “If you try to touch my boobs once more, I will murder you!”

“Oh, come on! I was just...“exploring” your body.” what a pervert.

“Well, next time I will explore your crotch with my knee.” I could feel him burn from over-

“I was hoping you would've used your hands to do so.” an instantaneous answer...and tremendously perverted too! This guy was so...disgusting!

Despite me and Temmie almost puking from the horrendous reply, the skeleton was laughing his ass off “Hehe, that was funny.” he returned serious as he explained “Anyways, I don't care a lot about humans...but my brother Papyrus, oh, he's _dead_ serious about catching one.” he turned around and stared at the foggy landscape “In fact, I think that's him over there.”

“What?” I was unprepared, if this “brother” wanted to catch me then I had to hide quickly...

“Oh, look!” he faked surprise as he pointed at a...silhouette of Micheal Jackson? No, it wasn't the pop-star...who the hell was that guy? “What an unconventional yet perfect hiding spot!”

He suggested I hided behind that silhouette while he and Asriel took care of his brother...the goat was okay with it, but considering how much I hated this skeleton already I considered the option he might've been lying...or that the figure wouldn't have been sufficient to hide me.

Perhaps it would've been best to face danger directly...

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's today's Strawpoll!  
> http://strawpoll.me/7092632
> 
> If you like my work, please leave a kudo and a comment (but mostly comments, I love receiving those =3)


	8. Snowland: Foe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I tried to hide from the skeleton's brother, but he found out about me anyway.  
> I knew I shouldn't have trusted that small bag of bones...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, uh...I don't know if I will be able to publish an update this weekend: school is killing me, and I need some time to study.  
> That doesn't mean, however, that I won't be able to answer your comments: so please, tell me what you think about the story so far.  
> Enjoy your reading!

[ACT: Hide]

Hiding seemed like the best choice: even if a fight would've really ensued, I would've gained a significant advantage due to the surprise attack; I was a bit confused by the location of that...silhouette, or whatever it was...it felt almost like I was expected to be there, it was too unrealistic to be coincidental.  
I hided behind the silhouette when I noticed that Temmie had jumped off my head and positioned herself over Asriel: he didn't seem to mind it too much, but I heard him ask her not to talk or else he would've killed her. She limited herself to nod and answer positively.  
The cover I was behind was enough big to allow me to look towards Asriel, Temmie, and the skeleton named Sans: soon enough, I spotted another skeleton arrive at great speed, but he was very different from what I assumed was his brother.  
The skeleton was extremely tall, even taller than Asriel, and looked slimmer than Sans. He resembled a human skeleton much more than the other skeleton monster, even though his teeth were too sharp to be human-like. Maybe he had those same red lights as his brother, but I couldn't see them from that angulation. He was wearing a really weird attire: a black armor of an unknown material, extremely pointy especially on the shoulders, a red scarf all thorn and mistreated, black jeans that went all the way down to the knees, a red belt adorned by a small skull and huge red boots. Damn, that guy had a ridiculous sense of fashion.  
As I was saying, he was running full speed towards his brother; he stopped right in front of him and started to yell, with a voice that reminded me of a film's bad guy “There you are, you lazybones! Snooping as usual, I see!” he was mad, but I couldn't understand why.  
“Pap, ya know that's not the truth: I work myself down to the bone every day.” the short skeleton answered with a small chuckle; neither me, Asriel or Temmie laughed at the joke, it was awfully terrible.  
“See Sans? Nobody likes your jokes! You should spend less time inventing them and more time actually doing something! Helping me capture a human would be a great start, for example.” capture a human...so, Sans didn't lie when he said his brother wasn't as lazy as him regarding that subject. However, for some reason I found the small skeleton much more intimidating than his taller brother, I couldn't trust him...  
“Hey, I have a feeling in my bones...ya should check that silhouette of Mettaton over there.” he pointed towards...me. -Fuck, I knew this guy was a moron...- I wasn't afraid of that monster, but I was legitimately mad at the smaller skeleton for betraying me. I should've expected that, after all.  
“Excuse me.” Asriel coughed and got the tall skeleton's attention “You're forgetting about me.”  
“Sans, who is this monster?” the skeleton asked.  
“Just a guy who I met in the forest: he was lost, so I showed him the way towards Snowdin...before y'arrived, of course.” the other one answered, shrugging his shoulders.  
“Hmm, I see...” he paused, before continuing “Greetings, travelers.”  
“Hoi, I'm Temmie!” the critter answered, like an automatic response; shortly after she shyly retreated back into a ball-like form as she kept apologizing.  
The tall monster was a bit irritated, but he continued his previous statement “I am the Great Papyrus, member of the Royal Guard and Administrator of Snowland.” he bowed, but it was all just for show.  
I heard Asriel mutter something, but I couldn't hear it from where I was; he answered as politely as the monster in front of me, as he introduced himself “I'm Arisel, just a traveler who got lost, as your brother here just explained. And she's Temmie, another traveler I picked up a few minutes ago.” I couldn't understand the need for Asriel to use a pseudonym, but I understood he wasn't using it because he thought it was funny: he had to have a serious motive to do so.  
“Sir Papyrus, I appreciate your services for this country: however, I ask you let me find the road towards Snowdin by myself. I'm a very prideful man, after all...”  
“Yes, yes, I understand...” Papyrus nodded as he talked “Me and my brother will let you continue your journey without troubles...but I must remind you that, once you'll arrive in Snowdin, you'll have to pay a small fee to enter the city.”  
While Papyrus was explaining, his small brother bothered him “Hey Pap, what will we do now?”  
“What we've been doing all this time: patrol this area and scout for fallen humans!”  
“Then, ya should check behind that figure over there.” he pointed once more towards me “I bet a human's hiding behind that.”  
“Sans, I hate these kinds of jokes! Every time I believe you and every time you disappoint me! You're literally the worst, brother, ev-” before the tall monster could finish his ranting, tall bones emerged from the ground right in front of me, smashing the cover I was hiding behind: I knew that that Papyrus couldn't have done it, as he was not believing his brother, so the only perpetrator could've been Sans. I knew I shouldn't have believed him.  
I backflipped twice to gain more distance from the skeleton and prepared myself for battle; the tall undead was a bit puzzled at first but, after he realized who (and what) I was, his expression changed to one of happiness and triumph “Aha! I knew it! This is my lucky day!” he then looked towards his brother with a fiery expression “Why didn't you tell me about that human before?”  
“Ya didn't ask for it.” he simply answered.  
“I did ask you, you imbecile!” Papyrus angrily replied.  
“No, ya didn't: y'asked me to help you capture one of them, not find one of them. Those are two different concepts, don't ya think?”  
“Look Sans, arguing with you is pointless: now that there's a human, we should capture it!” he looked towards me, challenging me with his gaze: I returned the look as I started inspecting his body for weaknesses. Other than his exposed spinal column, I didn't see anything weird...but maybe, since he was a skeleton, I could've dismembered his body more easily, starting with his spine.  
“Unfortunately, I cannot allow you that.” Asriel positioned himself between the skeleton and me as he kept looking towards my opponent “You see, I too knew of the human's location.”  
“W-What?” the undead was weirded, which was expected: I myself could not understand why Asriel was revealing everything instead of playing the role he was assigned to, the freaky freaked-out monster. I could've beat that skeleton with ease, or so I thought.  
“You heard that correctly: you see, I met the human much before you; I already declared that her body, her life and, most importantly, her Soul are all mine.” he shook his head as he lifted his hands as a sign of surrender “So, unfortunately I cannot allow you to capture her...if someone's going to kill her, that's me.” in my head, I was both thanking him seriously and sarcastically.  
“You cannot prevent me from capturing the human! I am a Royal Guard, I act on behalf of the King of monsterkind himself!” Papyrus was yelling angrily, but that didn't affect Asriel at all: “Frankly, I don't give a damn. So, if you plan on pursuing your goal, I must warn you...” he walked out of the way, showing me to the skeleton like I was a prize “You will have to beat her first.”  
“W-What?” I was the one weirded out now “I thought you were going to protect me, you jerk!”  
“When, exactly, did I say that? I'm confident you're powerful enough to defeat this weakling, I just wanted to make things clear for everyone here!” it was in that moment I realized how much useless that prince was. Every time he made me think I actually mattered to him, he quickly shifted his opinion. Annoying, but not harming: as he said, I could've defeated that monster with ease...probably.  
“Well then, if you chose to side with her then I can only do this...” he grabbed a mobile phone form his pants' pockets and press a button: sirens could be heard in the distance as he yelled to the device's microphone “Citizens of Snowdin, we have a Code H. I repeat, we have a Code H. This is not a drill: traps are now activating all around Snowland. I order you to return to your houses and prepare for the human's arrival.” after a while, the sirens stopped, or at least lowered their volume drastically.  
“I will capture you, no matter what!” the skeleton declared “Then I will become the Royal Guard's captain! And, after that, I will be monsterkind's hero while Undyne will be forgotten!” he then laughed in a way I found very comical and ran away, bringing his smaller brother with him; before the small monster disappeared, he saluted me “See y'around, kid.”

Me, Asriel and Temmie (which returned to her usual comfy spot over my head) were walking through the snowy path, conversing about what just happened “That Sans...what an asshole!” I exclaimed.  
“I agree...but you did call him an asshole before he pulled off that dirty trick, so I think you should've expected that.” I could feel Temmie silently agreeing with the goat.  
“Whatever.” I cracked my hands “Next time I meet that skeleton, I will murder him.”  
“You know he's already dead, don't you?” Asriel joked. Both me and Temmie looked at him a bit pissed: I expressed our opinions on his gags “Stop making these jokes. They suck.”  
He limited himself to shrugging his shoulders and shake his head as he shut his eyes, muttering something inaudible.  
Without realizing it, we arrived next to some sort of small construction, made principally of black wood and black stone: it resembled a small fort, but it looked more like a sentry station than an actual defensive building. It had one big opening, as big as a big window, and a small gate to pass between the inside and the outside of the construction.  
A small sign below the opening had these words written on it: “Papyrus (and Sans)'s sentry station. Do not cross unauthorized.”  
“Those skeletons follow the protocol to the letter...” Asriel observed “Oh, well, like we care. Right?” he looked towards me.  
“Absolutely.” I would've never followed that place's rules, no matter what they were; unless they were beneficial to me, of course.  
We proceeded past the sentry station and returned walking through the forest's path, our guards perennially raised in case those two monsters appeared out of nowhere...at least my guard was raised, I wasn't sure what the goat would've done if those two threatened my or his life.  
Not long after the sentry post had disappeared behind us, we saw another one of those in the distance, a bit similar to the other one. “I think I'm having a deja-vù.” I admitted.  
“Deja-vù do not exist: that is another construction, for sure.”  
We neared the station and noticed it was a bit different...artistically speaking: there were a few dog-like decorations, such as a face of a cute dog carved in the black wood over the big middle opening.  
As soon as we passed by that window, however, something appeared on the other side: a canine-like monster emerged from the interior of the sentry post, his face was half black and half white. He was wearing casual clothes, such as a sleeveless black shirt and black trousers, but he was also wearing formal adornments like epaulettes and a red belt with carvings on it.  
“Did something move?” the dog seemed capable of speaking: he was looking everywhere, and from the looks of it he couldn't see us. Maybe he was blind?  
“I heard a human has been spotted nearby...so, if something moved...” he summoned two red daggers out of thin air “...Then it can only be a human!” he jumped out of the window and started swinging his weapons around...too bad he had jumped way past us.  
If this monster was blind, then he wouldn't have saw me coming...as I stepped forward towards him, I saw him turn in my direction and exclaim “Aha! There you are!” so, he could see me as long as I moved...Asriel seemed to have figured that out way before me as he was standing perfectly still.  
The dog charged towards me and, to avoid giving away my position, I mimicked the goat and stood still: the monster could not find me anywhere, and restarted swinging his daggers around in the hopes of hitting me accidentally.  
I waited until he was enough close to me and acted: I ran towards him and hit him hard in the stomach. The monster's look shifted to a pained expression as he lowered his upper body and covered his belly with his paws, dropping his weapons in the process; I hit him with an uppercut which sent him flying backwards, but did not make him fall to the ground.  
Before he could've had a chance to react, I once again ran towards him: this time, however, I slid on the snow on my knees and ended my slide right underneath him, where I punched the monster in his genitals; the dog once again whimpered in agony, but I didn't give him rest. I got up in the fraction of a second and backflipped, hitting him in the chin while doing so.  
The monster looked extremely disoriented as he fell to the ground and stayed there; for a moment I feared I had killed him, but then I remembered that dead monsters turned into dust after a short while. Asriel was the one to instruct me of that notion.  
“Impressive!” speaking of the goat, he walked towards me clapping his hands “What an amazing tour de force! You're getting better and better each time you fight.”  
“Why are you complementing me?” I asked.  
“Because you deserve it, what other reason should I have? If a pet obeys your orders you give him a reward, after all.” I knew he would've used a metaphor of that kind: once again, first he congratulates you then he remembers you you're a pet, his.  
We left the monster behind as we continued along the path; after a while, Temmie inquired me “Are you getting tired?”  
I wasn't sure what to answer, if I had to be honest I was a bit tired but I didn't want to look weak in her or Asriel's eyes “A little bit.” that would've made it.  
“I can massage you, if you want.” she suggested; before I could reply, she slid behind my neck and started...vibrating. The sole thought of something that vibrates made my mind go to places it shouldn't have went to.  
I had to admit, even though I wasn't sure how she was doing it, Temmie was an excellent stress reliever: she could've become a professional masseuse, maybe even directed a spa all by herself.  
“Am I doing it right?” she asked, a bit embarrassed.  
“Yes...keep going...” the massage felt so relaxing...I almost tripped over a small rock in the way, which reminded me I wasn't there to relax and that I had to stay sharp.  
After a while, we arrived to a small frozen pond, as big as Asriel's garden. There was a sign in the middle of the pond, but I didn't care about that: I needed to find a way to arrive to the barrier. There were two roads I could've followed: the one right in front of me, right after the pond, or the one on my left, which I could reach without sliding on thin ice. I decided to take the road on the left; Asriel was fine with my choice since he himself could not remember which path led to the barrier.  
The journey didn't last long: we quickly discovered that path was a dead end. The only interesting thing to see before yet another abyss was a snowman, which was strange considering the ominous feeling that I kept feeling in that hellish cave. I would've never expected to find a snowman there, at all.  
“Well, a dead end: I think we should let Temmie be our navigator from now on.” Asriel jokingly commented.  
“I'm an excellent GPS!” the critter screamed as she pulled out her calculator “I can evaluate which of the roads proposed is the most likely to be the right one! I just need to know some factors...like inclination, percentage of diverse flora and snow composition.” I couldn't understand if she was serious or not...she most likely wasn't.  
“Uh, excuse me.” I then heard a voice, which belonged to someone I didn't know “Over here, next to the ravine.” I looked towards where the voice told me to, but I didn't see anything apart from the...snowman.  
-You've got to be kidding me...- I thought.  
“Um, you two.” the snowman wasn't moving at all, not even while talking: I wasn't sure if he was a monster or not, but he seemed friendly enough to be safe conversing with him “I have a favor to ask you.”  
“Again?” Asriel was upset “What are we, a walking association of benefactors?”  
“Please...listen to me...” the snowman's voice was sad and tired, so I decided to step forth and ask what was wrong. “I hate this place...it's always the same view, all the year...all years. Monsters around here aren't nice either...living here sucks.” if I wasn't listening to what the snowman had to say, I would've probably wondered how could a snowman live.  
“Please...I beg you...take a small piece of me, and bring it far, far away...after you're done, I will do the rest...”  
That wasn't a simple task, but it seemed simple enough: after all, I planned to escape from that Hell...but how was I going to bring a piece of him all the way to the barrier?  
“Be careful, it could be a trap.” Asriel whispered in my ear; it was a possibility, that was for sure, but he didn't seem like the kind of guy who would've backstabbed me like that skeleton...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's today's Strawpoll!  
> http://strawpoll.me/7118061
> 
> ...I'm still laughing for the "SnooPINGAS usual I see" joke.  
> I put it there on accident, but it wouldn't have been the same without it. =3


	9. Snowland: Challenges

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I decided to help the snowman, despite my instincts telling me not to.  
> The skeletons and a canine tried to stop me, to no avail: unlike them, I adapt to my enemies.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, sorry for the small break: I had a few exams to do before Easter, but now I'm done with them!  
> During Easter, I will upload a chapter every two days, starting this Thursday.  
> Also, I now have a Fanfiction.net account! So I will be publishing my works over there as well.
> 
> I'm also planning to remake the original "Not all Heroes are born Good" novel, because I don't want to upload it on FF as it currently is.  
> God, reading that piece of trash is like washing your eyes with bleach...  
> Oh, and it'll also be updated here as well. So, if you haven't read that work yet, I recommend you do so.

_[ACT: Take]_

 

What Asriel said was right: I shouldn't have trusted anyone in that hellhole, as there were very few monsters...creatures...whatever that snowman was...anyway, very few creatures that were worth helping...most of them were just opportunists. However, that snowman seemed like a trustworthy person so I decided to accept his request: I approached the snowman and took a piece of snow from him, right next to his cheek. The snow in my hand suddenly shape-shifted and became a big snowflake of an untold beauty and perfection.

“Thank you.” the snowman expressed his gratitude “Remember: keep it safe.” then I didn't hear anything more from him: from the looks of it, he returned to being a simple, uninteresting snowman.

“So...any ideas on how to transport this little thing?” I asked the two monsters that were with me.

“None, and even if I had I wouldn't help you.” Asriel looked away, despite smiling ironically he had a cold look in his eyes “After all, it was your idea, not mine.”

I expected Asriel's refusal for cooperation, so I didn't even bother listening to his blabbing and looked towards Temmie: the little critter pulled something out of her pocket, a small blue cellphone with a bunny cover. It had fake but cute bunny ears, that thing was so adorable I felt sick. Literally.

“This is the temPhone 6, the latest one! It has many apps: a personal black-hole for item storage, an instantaneous delivery service, free internet connection...” she handed me the device, which looked unnecessarily complicated “But we need the storage app, it's the one with the vortex-like picture.”

I touched on the picture the monster indicated me and suddenly the screen became black while a small light came out of the phone's camera; Temmie told me to put the snowflake in front of the light, which I did: in a flash, the snowflake disappeared from my hand...and entered the cellphone! Now the screen displayed the snowflake it just absorbed and, much to my relief, it looked perfectly intact.

“Not bad!” I commented.

“Thank you, thank you...” she seemed proud of herself...but also slightly reluctant to continue talking about the current subject. I thanked Temmie once more for her help and gave her back her device.

 

Exploring the iced landscape seemed troublesome at first, but I quickly learned it wasn't very different from exploring the Ruins: there was only one right way to proceed, which wasn't very difficult to find or to follow. Of course, my journey was very dangerous: a lot of monsters, which were very different from the ones who inhabited the Ruins, thought it would've been wise to attack me. They soon learned they needed to leave me alone, else they would've experienced the most “extreme” Extreme Makeover of their lives.

Overall, the battles with these common monsters were, indeed, quite simple and didn't offer me the challenge I was looking for: funny, how I wanted to find a worthy opponent despite wanting to be left alone.

What I was most afraid of were those skeleton monsters: they seemed to own the place, and they were in charge of my “capture”...unlike the other monsters, who attacked me just for the pleasure of doing so, these two had a complex scheme in mind.

However, I soon found out that the taller brother, Papyrus, wasn't very good at setting up traps: I have to admit, the designs and general ideas were quite nice and unconventional, but...something always backfired, rending them completely useless and ineffective.

His brother, on the other hand, wasn't very helpful either: his laziness could only be compared to the irrational fear I had of him. Despite supporting his brother “the best he could”, he almost never acted directly to stop my progress...at least, he never did until...

“Nyeh heh heh! Stop right there, human!” that ridiculously stupid laugh was already printed in my brain: I wondered why such a stereotypical bad guy such as that Papyrus had to have such a dubious evil laugh.

Me, Asriel and Temmie were in front of...a suspiciously empty area: between us and the two skeleton brothers, who had their shiny red lights solidly pointed towards us, there was a small “corridor”, if I can define it that.

“Sans, where is that trap you said you had set up?” the tall skeleton asked his brother, diverting his gaze from us.

“It's right there, don't you see it?” the small undead closed (somehow) his left eyesocket and looked towards the zone's center: now that he mentioned it, there was a small paper between us and them, but I was too far away to be able to read it.

“Sans, how is that going to stop the human?” Papyrus' tone became much, much graver.

“Like this.” Sans said, his voice becoming as low as his brother's: suddenly, huge bones emerged from the ground, smashing the paper to pieces. Now the intersection was full of these giant-sized femurs, and the spikes that came out of them weren't exactly harmless.

“Nyeh heh heh! That's right! Now, they'll never be able to proceed!” there was a small opening between the bones that let me see the two brothers even at such distance: it appeared the taller one was doing a victory dance, which was awfully pathetic.

“Well, good luck overcoming that.” Asriel said: without letting me protest, he grabbed Temmie from my head and prepared himself to jump; black flames surrounded him, and I instantly backed away. When he finally did jump, the flames propelled him all the way through the ocean of bones and directly next to the two brothers: while Papyrus was surprised, Sans didn't seem to mind that at all.

“Do not worry, I'm not going to help her out in any way: in fact, if she fails to overcome that obstacle then I will spontaneously surrender to you.” he explained himself to the skeleton brothers, which nodded in approval.  
“You know, I would love to give up now just to see that fucking grin of yours drop.” I shouted at him.

“Don't worry, I know you won't: you love to live as much as I do!” he yelled in return. That sentence made me ponder for a bit...but that was just a moment, as I immediately refocused on the problem at hand.

The area was too small to consider walking around the obstacle, and there were no side-paths that could've helped me avoid it either: it seemed like the only way to win this challenge was to do it the right way. Usually, there are three ways to pass through something: pass right through it, fly over it or dig under it. Digging was unthinkable, I didn't have the tools to do so...besides, those bones were coming out of the ground: maybe they extended downwards as well. Passing through those femurs didn't look wise either: they looked incredibly resistant and even with my overwhelming strength I wouldn't have been able to destroy any of them.

The only option left was to fly above them: unfortunately, I wasn't an avian, so it would've been very difficult to fly; of course, I could've jumped, but something told me I wouldn't have made it past all those bones.

“When you give up the challenge and your Soul, please inform me human.” the tall skeleton teased me as he kept laughing.

Without a clear strategy to follow, I started looking everywhere for clues, for a hidden detail I might have missed: my gaze fell upon a weird bird-like monster, which I encountered half an hour before, as he did stunts while flying. Suddenly, he started to precipitate face down as he twisted clockwise, a truly dangerous and yet...instructive stunt.

I now knew what to do.

I ran backwards, away from the sea of bones that was blocking the way, and stopped when I felt I was sufficiently distant: I could hear the skeletons talk between themselves, but I didn't listen to them. I prepared myself, then ran at full speed towards the bones.

When I was a few feet away from them, I jumped in the air: my initial assumptions were correct, despite being able to jump above them I wasn't quite capable of jumping through them. I did, however, make it a quarter of the way just by jumping.

I turned upside down as I split my legs to act like a helicopters' blades, ready to perform the devilish stunt I had in mind; without wanting to do so, I yelled “Spinning bird kick!” or something along those lines: at first I didn't like the name, but I decided to stick with it anyway.

I started rotating my legs while jumping, which started propelling me towards the monsters: I could _feel_ their gazes, full of surprise and disbelief, all pointed at me. Defying gravity, I managed to get all the way through the obstacle...then gravity remembered it existed, and I started going down: however, I had already surpassed the giant femurs when that happened. I landed gracefully on my legs, preparing myself for the comments.

“H-How?” Papyrus inquired, not expecting an answer: he could not comprehend what just happened...but neither could the other three monsters, or me for that matter.

“Heh, I knew the kid could've done it...” I heard Sans whisper to himself; I didn't know if the others heard him as well.

“That was amazing!” Temmie clapped at my performance, which boosted my morale even more.

“As expected.” Asriel smiled at me, but it wasn't one of his usual creepy-ironic smiles, this one was legit and true “You truly are something amazing.”

 

After that, the two skeletons retreated to figure out a new way to capture me; as for us, we continued to traverse that snowy landscape, searching for a way to get to the barrier. Since I was tired of walking silently, I decided to converse with Asriel “So, I impressed you didn't I?”

“Yes, you did.” he admitted, emotionless “But don't get cocky: I did expect you to find a way to get past that obstacle. I didn't foresee you would've defied the laws of physics to do so, but I did.”

“Seriously, Asriel: what do you truly want from me?” I didn't know why, but I asked him.

He didn't answer my question, he pretended he did not hear it; his eyes became more tired and glacial, which meant that further asking would've been unwise.

We found a wall of spikes blocking the way, much smaller than the precedent impediment: using the same technique I used before, or even simply jumping through it, would've been much easier this time around.

But before I could even begin to jump I heard noise on my right: a big snowpoff, located a few feet away from me, began to shake as strands of white fur substituted the snow falling on the ground. A dog monster, similar to the one I defeated some time before, appeared before me. This one was wearing a much heavier armor, like those of knights, and possessed a small sword and a shield with that weird symbol painted on it. The dog had white fur, and was as tall as me: he didn't look very friendly, as he was growling and snarling furiously.

He charged at me, but I managed to dodge his slash at the last possible moment: I punished his error by kicking him hard in his backside; the dog fell on the ground and tried to get up, but his armor was too heavy. He was stuck.

“Wow, you already won.” Asriel commented “I should stop being surprised, at this point.”

I looked at the dog, still trying to get up: I had a weird sensation, like I needed to do something more. Something...positive, like a caress or a pat on the head. At first I felt awkward for even considering petting a dog who tried (and was still trying) to murder me, but I decided to do so anyway: I scratched the dog's neck from behind, and he immediately stopped moving.

I felt something move behind me: the dog's tail was moving quickly and happily, meaning he was enjoying my caresses. When I looked towards the dog's head once again, I was shocked: the dog's neck had...extended, now the head was at least a few feet away from me.

It seemed like the more I petted him the more his neck extended, but there had to be a limit to it...right?

“I don't even know what you're doing anymore...” Asriel awkwardly commented as I continued to pet the dog, more and more intensely. The dog's head was about to fall off a precipice, but instead it made a u-inversion and started extending even more...I wondered how could he do that without breaking his neck. This poor dog's spinal column was now probably as thin as a noodle.

When the head arrived next to me once more, I heard the goat comment once again “Is there no end to this madness?” just then I stopped petting the dog, exclaiming “I'm bored.”

The second I stopped petting him, the dog retracted his neck, which returned to normal dimensions: I started moving away from him, Asriel walking a bit slower as he was still trying to figure out what happened. Now that I think about it, I didn't help that dog to get up...oh well, who cares.

“You're a very perverted person.” Asriel accused me as we jumped through the spines.

“Admit it: you were enjoying it as much as I was.” I joked.

“S-Shut up!” he shook his head, as he insulted me “You're weird.”

“Look who's talking.”

I spotted two more monsters coming our way: they both looked like dogs as well, and they were brandishing huge axes. I pondered: since I had been able to neutralize the lesser dog without attacking him, could I use the same tactic against these two monsters and manage to end the fight without hurting them?

Of course, neutralizing them the normal way would've been easier and more fun, but maybe trying to use alternative strategies would've been more interesting...perhaps, even more challenging.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's today's Strawpoll!  
> http://strawpoll.me/7156442
> 
> Remember, if you like my work you should leave a kudo and a comment! Anything's appreciated, really, as long as it's constructive and not destructive.  
> ...Please talk with me, I need to know I'm not talking with a wall. TwT


	10. Snowland: Fractures

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After dispatching the dogs in a non-violent way, things happened.  
> For example, I almost died...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Man, this chapter took ages to write! And with ages I mean at least six hours...not that it's too long, it's just that...I'm lazy as shit.  
> I would like to remind you that I've begun polishing my original work, so please check it out if you still haven't. I will try to upload a polished page every two-three days, so don't be impatient and wait for them! Do not read the original pages, just reading my first one was a pain... =C  
> Anyway, hope you guys like this new chapter!

_[ACT: Interact]_

 

The idea of not using violence half scared me and half intrigued me: it would've been safer, easier and more fun to beat them, but I wanted to see if I was able to bypass these two monsters without recurring to pure brute strength. Besides, I needed to be prepared for everything: what would I have done, in the future, if fighting was not an option?

The monsters approached us quickly: they looked like dogs with white fur, like the one I had just neutralized, but it was hard to describe them as they were wearing black robes that covered their face and most of their bodies. They had a giant axe each, and they looked very sharp.

“So the boneheads were right: there really is a human.” one of the two dogs had a feminine voice.

“This is our chance to be promoted!” the other monster, a male, exclaimed “We just need to bring her Soul to king Asgore!”

King Asgore...if Asriel was the prince, then he had to be his father; I saw Asriel shiver a bit when the monster mentioned him, which unsettled me a little bit. It wasn't the time to ponder, however, as the two monsters simultaneously attacked me with their axes: I jumped backwards just in time to avoid them and wondered how could I convince them to stop attacking without...forcing them to.

“Look, if you drop your weapons right now then I won't be forced to beat the crap out of you.” I told them “I'm in a hurry, so if you surrender right now it'll make things easier for me.”

“What are you doing?” Asriel asked me from behind, a bit confused.

“We will never surrender to a human!” the male dog shouted “I would prefer death over letting you escape!” the other dog nodded in approval; I considered shoving some sense into them, but then I remembered I had a challenge to complete.

While dodging another wave of slashes, I looked around me trying to find the solution to that problem: after a few seconds, my gaze stopped on a small wooden branch lying next to an old iced tree; since they were dogs, it was possible they would've liked to play with that stick.

I ran towards the stick and grabbed it, but kept it hidden while the two monsters charged at me: when I thought they were sufficiently close, I showed them the item I had found on the ground. The dogs stopped immediately and dropped their weapons on the ground as they exclaimed “A stick!”

I showed them the branch as a prize, moving it from left to right and from right to left: their focus was solely on it. “Go grab it!” I ordered them as I threw the bough into the snowy forest; I watched them excitedly run into the woods, looking for the item. I doubted they would've found it soon, as the forest was very big and I made sure to launch the branch very far away.

“Seriously, why did you bother doing that?” Asriel approached me from behind, a bit disappointed “We're here to get to the Royal Palace, not to waste time.”

“Hey, I can win any way I want! How you win isn't important as long as you do win!” I yelled at him.

“I'm grateful she didn't hit them...” I forgot about Temmie, she was still sitting over my head “I don't like when people get hurt...”  
Asriel was about to say something, but he stopped and shook his head; soon afterwards, he commented “You two really are idiots...huge, naive idiots...”

 

I was getting bored by Papyrus' inefficiency at making traps: even if, from the looks of it at least, he was doing his best trying to capture me, there really was not an excuse for his incompetence; even worse, he kept telling me “My next trap will surely stop you, nyeh heh heh!” save turning out to be yet another failure.

The monster encounters were getting easier and easier: I stopped trying to solve the battle peacefully at the two dogs because we needed to be fast...Asriel was right, there was no time to experiment.  
“Those dogs were part of the Royal Guard, the elite group of soldiers my father the king directly commands. They are all highly trained soldiers...but it seems they have the same weaknesses your “dogs” on the Surface have.” he explained “However, dog monsters are not the only monsters capable of joining the Royal Guard: any warrior my father considers worthy enough can join. So please, do not underestimate the skeletons: if they are part of the Royal Guard, there has to be a good reason....my father is not stupid...”

Those recommendations seemed useful, so I mentally annotated the information the goat monster had given me: be careful around Royal Guards. Do not underestimate them. Of course, it was a bit difficult to not underestimate a skeleton who was too pathetic to even be considered a menace, but maybe Asriel was right: just because he sucked at capturing humans didn't mean he wasn't good at fighting them.

We were proceeding on high ground, the forest we had just traveled through was right under us: I could not understand how could a hill as unstable as the one I was walking on not...crumble?

Just as I finished that thought, the terrain under me started shaking: cracks formed in the mixture of ice and snow that comprised the mountain; soon the path was reduced to clods, slowly precipitating into the abyss below.

“Run!” Asriel shouted as he started jumping from clod to clod, trying to get to the other side of the path: I followed him close behind, careful not to slip. The path started falling to the ground behind us, reminding me that if I was not fast enough it would've probably costed my life. Temmie slid behind my neck, for some reason I could not quite comprehend.

Suddenly, I didn't feel the ground under me: the lump I had jumped on fell prematurely...making me fall with it. I panicked, I was about to die even though I was so close to salvation...I stopped without any warning and then slammed against hard rock.

I looked upwards: some sort of grappling hook had been launched from...me, it seemed. To be more precise, from my rear...I suspected Temmie was the one to save my life. I was now dangling into the abyss, I just had to climb the rope behind me and I would've been saved...or so I thought.

“Temmie, was that you?” I asked, incredulous.

“Y-Yeah...c-can you p-please...” she seemed in distress, she was probably holding the grip all by herself; I quickly grabbed the rope and secured it around my tummy as best as I could. Temmie sighed in relief as she returned to her usual spot over my head “Thank you, I was about to let go...you're way heavier than I expected...”

“Are you insinuating that I'm fat?” I asked jokingly: she took it a bit too seriously as she started shivering and apologizing.

“Hey, are you two still alive?” I heard Asriel shout at me from above “If you are, then please get over here hastily: the wall you're currently attached to doesn't look too solid!” he muttered something to himself before vanishing out of my sight.

I started climbing the grappling hook Temmie had used: despite being very difficult since I wasn't habituated to carrying heavy weighs, I was going very fast...at least, I imagined so.

“Where did you keep that thing?” I asked Temmie as I kept going upwards.

“Inside the cellphone.” she simply replied “I keep most of my stuff in there just in case.”

“And you had a grappling hook with you because...”

“Reasons.” she countered, and went mute. I would've inquired further about it, but climbing was becoming harder as I was losing energies...adding to that, chunks of snow, ice and stone were falling from the cliff and I had to dodge them as well. After I had reached safety, I would've asked for a break.

After a few minutes, I managed to ascend all the way to the top...just then, the cliff crumbled again, making me fall once more -What is my luck today, goddammit!- I cursed myself for my tremendous misfortune; I heard Temmie scream behind me, she didn't do it before...maybe she didn't have a solution to save us this time, I had already unbound the rope from around me...

I heard something soft grab my jacket at the last second and pull me towards safety, as my body sank into a cold purple robe...

 

_After what looked like an eternity, the sack opened and I was let out of it “We've arrived, you can come out.”_

_Asriel helped me get out of the small box I had been stuffed in; after that was done, I looked around the room: it looked nearly identical to the one I spent the precedent week in, except it was slightly brighter. The walls were whiter and the space was bigger, I believed it was a nice change in atmosphere._

“ _This is my new home.” he proudly announced “You should be proud to be staying here...”_

_I didn't know what was the “right answer” to give, so I decided to show him my gratitude “Proud to be staying here? I should be grateful to still being alive...”_

_He patted me on my shoulder and congratulated me “Heh, you're learning. And I thought humans were stupid...”_

_He ordered me to sit on the bed, which I did: it was soft like the other one, maybe it was the same one...no, this one was slightly bigger. The pillows had drawings of beautiful red flowers painted on them, and even the blanket had them: I would've given anything to have a bed like that._

_Unfortunately that wasn't my primary concern, as the monster reached for another box and started looking for something inside of it “Now that you're no longer injured, I may as well...” he finally got something out of it: a shiny, pointy knife “...Test some things...”_

_I backed away, scared “W-What are you doing?”_

_He walked right in front of me and grabbed my hair, pulling my head closer to his “This, human, is how you're going to earn your stay here. I'm going to do...everything I desire to you...and you won't scream, or I will kill you. Understood?” he asked me, rhetorically._

“ _Y-Yessir...” I submissively answered._

“ _Good, then let us begin.” he grabbed my arm and cut through my skin with his torture tool: even though he didn't go too deep, the pain was already unbearable and I struggled to avoid screaming. I silently cried as the monster licked my own blood, savoring it as if it was a wine of the rarest quality._

“ _This...is delicious...it's so...warm...” he muttered as he dried my arm of my liquids. He must have noticed that I was crying as he immediately asked “Are you really this weak? If you're crying now, I don't know what you're going to do once I...” he stopped himself before he could reveal me what he had in store “...Oh dear, I almost ruined the surprise! You'll see what I mean in due time...” he laughed maliciously as I cried thinking of what could this little devil want from me other than pure, sadistic pleasure._

 

“Hey, you're still in there? Answer me, please!”

I managed to wake up from my daydreaming session and look upwards: the monster who just saved my life was faintly smiling at me, a caring look on his face. I just needed to look at him in the eyes to understand I was talking with Chara and not with Asriel.

“Yeah...I'm fine. Thanks.” I thanked him for his help “Without your help, I would've-”

I was quickly thrown towards the iced path, away from the cliff, as the monster chuckled “Well then, let us get going!”

-Seems like Lord Mcdouchebag doesn't waste time...- I remarked in my mind as he walked next to me and pointed me the right way “Come on, we do not have all day.”

“Why, you-” I was about to say something nasty but Temmie covered my mouth with her paws from above me; she whispered in my ear “He's just like everyone else...if he wasn't so strong, I would've ditched him a long time ago.”

“Yeah...too bad I don't have that option.” I quietly answered, wary that the other monster might have been spying on the conversation.

 

After that incident, the journey became much easier...and, in a certain way, also more normal: Papryus told me he was aware that I had risked my life at that hill and expressed relief that I didn't die; he quickly explained that, in the case I would've died there, he wouldn't have been able to get my Soul. Maybe that was the reason he wasn't trying to fight me directly and was instead relying on traps: if he had killed me, he wouldn't have been able to give my Soul to the King...but what would he have done with my essence? Asriel told me the day before that a monster with a human Soul, like himself, is extremely powerful...maybe that was why he needed it, to become stronger and pass through the barrier. I didn't want to imagine what he would've done afterwards.

We had journeyed for an hour at least, and now we were finally able to see the village the skeletons mentioned at the beginning: Snowdin. Separating us from the small town, which was impossible to describe at that distance, was an incredibly long wooden bridge which looked even more unstable than the one I met Sans at.

“You go first.” Asriel suggested...maybe it's more correct to say he ordered me.

“Fuck you.” I cursed him.

Now that he was aware of my fear of heights, he kept on reminding me of how aloft we were: every time he remembered me not to fall down, I felt like I needed to punch him where the Sun never shines...Temmie was amazing at making the stress disappear with her massages though. Without her, I wasn't sure how well I could've handled the huge dick that followed me around everywhere.

Without warning, something huge jumped at me from my right side: I backflipped right in time to avoid it and somehow Temmie did not fall from my head while doing so.

-Yet another one...- I sighed as I realized who my opponent was: another one of those dog monsters, this one substantially larger than the other four. The fur was completely white, like that of the precedent three Royal Guards, but I wouldn't have guessed that if I could not see his face and his tale, which were the only two parts of his body that were visible; the rest of his figure was covered by a very solid-looking armor, which protected him almost fully. He carried around a sharp lance that must have been his weapon of choice.

“According to my calculations, you have a 99% chance to get hurt if you punch his armor.” Temmie reminded me “And a 75% chance to get hurt if you try to kick him as well.”

Not minding the critter's advice I charged at the monster and kicked him right in the stomach: even though the armor looked thin from far away, I quickly realized my mistake as I screamed loudly “Holy shit, ouch ouch ouch!”

The monster did not wait for me to finish screaming as he punched me in the stomach, sending me flying towards Asriel; I landed right at his feet, as he jokingly pointed out “Seems like iron is your one true weakness.”

“Well, yours is being nice.” I got up and searched for a weak point in his armor: I found one in the head, which was the only part of him that was exposed (apart from the tail, but hitting that wouldn't have done much or so I thought).

I could've jumped in the air and kicked him while he least expected it...or maybe...

I left Temmie in Asriel's custody as I charged once more at the bulky canine, who prepared himself just like before: this time, however, I did not attack him frontally. I jumped up in the air a few feet away from him and did once more the stunt I performed half an hour before “Spinning Bird Kick!”

The monster did not expect that to happen and he quickly savored the flavor of leather on his face as I kicked him repeatedly and shoved him backwards, closer and closer to the edge until...

-Oh no!- I panicked as he fell from the cliff. After a few seconds, I heard the noise of the armor hitting the cold hard ground a mile below, a tear forming on my face...but then I heard barking on my left: from the looks of it, the dog had exited the suit before it could fall and, I had to admit, he seemed...way smaller than I originally thought. In fact, he could be confused for an ordinary dog.

The monster barked at me for a few seconds before running away, trying to hide in the vegetation.

“Good job.” the goat congratulated me “But I have to inform you we have a big choice to make.”

“What is it?” I inquired.

“The village of Snowdin is right in front of us, but...I am honestly a bit unsettled by how quiet it looks. Besides, the skeletons mentioned having control of the city since they are the administrators, so they might have set up traps...and there is no guarantee the villagers will not attack us once we enter. We can try to get around the village, but I am not sure how much time will that require...”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's today's Strawpoll!  
> http://strawpoll.me/7174883
> 
> Temmie seems quite resourceful, doesn't she?  
> The battle against Papyrus is near, so brace yourselves for it! =3


	11. Papyrus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We arrived at Snowdin village, which looked...depressing.  
> Eventually, I was forced to prove my strength to Papyrus...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter that took an eternity to make... XwX  
> I'll admit though that once the fight part starts it's quite difficult to stop.  
> I hope you like this chapter, now with 100% more cats. =3

_[ACT: Enter]_

 

I reflected on that choice for a whole two seconds before answering, instinctively “We enter, of course. You said it before: we need to get to the Royal Palace as fast as we can. Walking around that city would take too long and we can't afford that.” I then asked Temmie if she agreed with me, to which she replied with an unsure nod.

“To me, it's not important where we go as long as we go somewhere. Whatever route you two choose, it's fine by me.” she then explained, a bit shyly.

Asriel closed his eyes and pondered for a while before reopening them and agreeing with me “Indeed, now that I think about it your option seems like the most efficient. We do not have much time before someone notifies my father of my presence, and once that happens...I do not even want to imagine the consequences. We need to get to the Royal Palace as fast as we can, even if it means risking a bit...”

I was the first to step on the long Tibetan bridge, which immediately reminded me of my fear of heights. It was true, before I had managed to save myself from certain death, but that was only because we were next to a wall Temmie could use her grappling hook on...here, there was nothing apart from the void. I heard Asriel spur me to continue, to which I replied with a sonorous “fuck you”.

In the end, I mustered up the courage to keep going forward: the walk through that seemingly endless bridge lasted only two to three minutes; my fear of falling down certainly helped me speed up my pace.

Once I got to the other side of the ravine, I looked at the village in front of me: the houses were made mostly with wood and, in some cases, stones...however, they all seemed very old and poorly taken care of. There were some instances where the house had huge holes for windows, which didn't seem a very good thing given the harsh weather of that place. What unsettled me the most of that place was that it was strangely...

“Empty...” Asriel appeared behind me and finished my thought “The whole village is...deserted.”

We wandered inside the village and we soon noticed a figure hiding behind a tree: some sort of huge rat, the only piece of clothing it wore was a green striped scarf; as soon as it noticed us, it tried to run away...but we were faster than him and we quickly caught up with him.

“P-Please don't kill me...” the monster pleaded for mercy, to which I answered “I'm not going to kill you, I just want to ask you some questions...”

He looked at me, incredulous “B-But...you're a human...”

“And?” I replied, not expecting an answer.

He was about to say something, but then his expression shifted a little as he noticed “Thinking about it, nothing can be worse than those two...” he turned his gaze towards me as he asked “So, what do you want from me?”

“Why is this city so...quiet?” I inquired.

He looked everywhere as if checking nobody was spying on us, then answered “Everyone is hiding...inside their homes, some even in...other places...they're too afraid to get out while those two are in the city...”

“Who are “those two”?” I already knew the answer, but I wanted to hear it from him just to be sure.

“T-The skeletons...those two brothers...” suddenly, he panicked “T-That's them! I have to go!” he then ran away at the speed of light, disappearing in one of the many alleys and secret routes that city seemed to have.

“Aha! There you are human!” a loud voice behind me exclaimed. Both me and Asriel turned around to find the tall skeleton (and his shorter brother, right behind him) looking at us from the middle of the main road “What are you doing over there?” he asked impatiently.

“We are admiring the view, what else could we be doing?” Asriel answered for me, and quickly made a question of his own “And, if I have to be frank, this city looks like a shithole. Were you not supposed to be the “administrator” of this city?” the way he asked that question...he had never been so cold, even with me.

“How I organize my domain is not your business...” somehow, his expression shifted to one of triumph “...Prince Asriel Dreemurr.”

Asriel lost his cool for a second, he was now sweating plentifully “N-No...how can you-”

“While I was waiting for you two here at Snowdin, I returned to my office, where there's a painting of none other than His Majesty himself...that's when I started noticing the facial similarities you have with Lord Asgore!” he tightened his fist as he exclaimed “I would've never expected to find the Lord's son here, in this horrible village...the reward on your head is incalculable, if I were to obtain it...then I would finally become what I've always wanted!” he put his left hand on his chest as he looked up at the...at the ceiling “Well-known! Feared! Admired! That would be me, the great Papyrus, head of the Royal Guard, the King's right hand man, I would be-”

“Well, too bad you're not going to be any of that.” I brusquely interrupted his monologue “Because you're going down right now!”

The skeleton looked at me, angry that I had interrupted him “Do you really think you can defeat me, the great Papyrus?” he didn't let me answer the question as he continued “Well, now that I think about it I still need to take you to Lord Asgore...or, I could get your Soul and use it to bring Prince Asriel instead!”

“Shut your damn mouth and fight me you megalomaniac freak!” I shouted in response.

I understood why Asriel was so worried: he expected to be discovered eventually...but not right now, not so far away from our destination. If the word were to be spread, our journey would've become a million times more difficult...perhaps, accomplishing it would've been downright impossible.

“Very well then!” he yelled as he encouraged me to move to a more suitable fighting area “You shall bow before my power! Nyeh heh heh!” he only moved a dozen feet backwards, still standing in the middle of a wide enough road to act as a battle arena.

His brother did not follow him: instead, he approached me and warned me “Listen kiddo, whatever ya do, it's fine by me. If ya hurt him, ya hit him, it's fine. Just...don't kill him, or else...” once again, the light from his eyes dissipated as his tone lowered a few notes “...You're gonna have a bad time.”

That phrase unsettled me for some strange reason, but I did not care about it and answered “As long as your brother doesn't try to kill me, I won't try to do the same.” that seemed sufficient, as his lights and voice returned to normal “Well then, I'm going to Grillby's. See ya later, kiddo.” he disappeared without a trace.

I walked to the center of the road, then turned towards Asriel: despite still being a little shaken, he tried his best to retain his normal facade. “Are you going to help me or not?” I asked him, even though I wasn't quite sure he would've aided me against...such an uncommon foe.

“I'm sorry, but I won't.” I could not understand if he apologized seriously or if he was being ironic as usual “You have to fight him by yourself: I want to see how powerful you really are. Besides, you're my toy and my tool: if you can't defend yourself, then you're destined to be trash.” I sighed as I accepted the fact I would've been fighting alone. Even though the goat wouldn't have been helping me, I was still determined to win and kick that skeletal monster's ass. "It's time to be bad..."

“Human!” Papyrus yelled even though we were only a few feet distant “Prepare yourself, for I shall use my _secret weapon_!”

-A secret weapon?- I wondered what he was talking about: he took something out of his right boot, a syringe filled with a strange, red liquid. I could perceive something coming from that vial, something...powerful. It felt familiar, like a distant sensation...a forgotten memory of some sort...and, from the looks of it, the monster was about to...

Papyrus tried puncturing himself in the arm with the syringe, but it didn't work: he tried again and again until the needle broke and fell to the ground.

“1: You can't puncture your bones with a needle. 2: You don't have veins...” I smiled at his inability to predict that outcome “...Idiot.”

The monster was so angered by my reaction he threw the vial at his feet, which shattered instantly upon contact with the solid, hard ground. The liquid first dispersed, then immediately evaporated into a grayish fume.

“Well then, now that that's over, we can-” I was about to say “we can fight”, but someone with a weird voice stopped me from my right “No, wait wait wait...”

I turned towards where the voice came from: three cats, the same I had met before exiting the Ruins, were organizing some instruments on a nearby house's roof “We still have to decide which battle music to play!” the one talking with me was the half-black half-white one, Karma.

-Battle music?- I was a bit confused until I suddenly remembered they said they were going to support me from a distance by singing while I fought: it seems they were serious about keeping their word, even if only against monsters of Papyrus' caliber. They didn't seem interested in wasting their time with normal encounters.

“Who are those?” I heard Temmie ask behind me: it looked like she had decided to relocate to Asriel's head, since I couldn't feel her above mine anymore.

“Some weird monsters me and Frisk met before we met you.” I was surprised by the fact he didn't call me “his toy” or any other lame epithet. But maybe he just did so because he was as surprised as I was.

“Don't mind us...” Karma explained to both her and Papyrus, who seemed uncertain of what to do against them “We're just simple, uninteresting wandering cat troubadours...”

“That's a lot of adjectifs for someone “uninteresting”.” I pointed out.

“...Anyway...” Karma tried to change the subject “...Hi!” I could not understand why he greeted us until I heard Temmie answer, excitedly “Hoi, I'm Temmie!” before probably disappearing back in Asriel's head. How did they know she tended to do that? I then remembered they were “always watching”...even worse than stalkers, really.

They then started bickering between themselves “What do you think of “Guren no Yumiya”?” Felicity, the female white cat, asked.

“You seriously want to waste that masterpiece against Papyrus?” the black cat, Death, asked in return “We could go for a straight-forward remix of Bonetrousle...” he suggested instead.

“Nah, I prefer we use singed tracks instead of tracks from the...” Karma coughed a bit, then continued “Besides, all the current Underfell remixes of that song suck.” I could not understand a word of what those cats were talking about, but I tried nonetheless.

“What about “Break out of”? It's cool, and fits with the mood.” he suggested instead, and the other two cats agreed...Felicity a bit faster than Death. “Okay, you can start kicking his ass!” Karma told me, much to my relief.

A powerful, synthesized theme that could not be produced by the guitars the cat had brought with them started playing as I ran towards my enemy: bones so big they could be mistaken for pillars emerged from the ground, but I managed to avoid them with ease. After all, I had trained for an hour straight with those monsters in Snowland.

“One thing that I'm sure of, is that you gotta fit in to survive this madness oh boy...” the female cat started singing as I hit the monster in the...rib cage with my fist: the armor he was wearing absorbed the hit, letting him return the favor; he hit me in the stomach with his knee and sent me flying a few feet backwards. That was a test however, as I just wanted to verify how powerful he was as to adapt to his strength: I didn't know how powerful those bones were nor did I want to find out, but the monster lacked strength in his physical body. Just what I needed.

I jumped in the air aiming at him and kicked him in the face with my right foot: he felt my cold hard boot on his skull as he flew backwards, the bones stopping to rise for a second.

“You don't even know who you're messing with, sinner from birth spelled in curse hated by thousands, my hands filled with dirt, skirts can go back home jerks...” what I presumed was Death continued (his voice dropped a few notes to allow him to sing the song better, but I could not understand how) as the monster got up and immediately restarted using his bones against me.

Other than the bones randomly emerging from the ground, now I needed to watch out for some other, smaller ones the skeleton was throwing at me with his own arms. Once again, dodging all the monster's attacks proved to be rather simple as I charged against him and used my uppercut against him, rapidly followed my a mid-air kick to the pelvis area.

He rapidly got up, summoned a femur as long as himself and hit me hard in the face with that: unlike his normal strikes, this weapon was actually quite dangerous, as I had to wipe some blood out of my nose.

“Break out of the dome, it's time to take a step up, no more cruising alone...” the song went on as I tried to kick through the opponent's weapon, to no avail: no matter where I striked, his guard was always up and he always managed to stop my attack before it could hit him.

If I wanted to hit him, then I needed to speed up my game...lightning flew through my right leg as I attacked repeatedly, without ceasing: even though he managed to parry my first hits, evntually I proved to be too fast for him as he got struck all over his body; I finished my combo by turning 360°left and hitting him hard in the chin from below, proving once more the flexibility of my legs.

Papyrus took the hit farely well, but it was clear he wasn't feeling as good as when he was at the start of the confrontation “You've proven to be quite powerful, human, but I-” he turned towards the cats, who were still singing their tune “Will you shut up? I'm trying to say something!” they all stopped and looked at him a bit angered, but they didn't say anything.

“Fantastic, now, as I was saying...” the monster looked at me once more, triumphally “It's time to use...my special attack...” I was a bit unsure of how to prepare myself for that, his “secret weapon” had already failed and I wasn't prone to believe this would've been any different.

“Behold my notorious... _blue attack_!” he pointed his skeletal hand towards me and I prepared myself for anything: it took me a while to figure out nothing was about to happen, much to my relief. “W-What?” the monster's jaw was hanging open, staring in a mixture of awe and fear.

“Just like the jacket...” Asriel commented stranged from my side. What did he mean with that?

I looked downwards, and saw...something I didn't see before: a black heart, flying a few inches away from my chest. That black color...for some reason, it didn't seem _natural_ to me...

“I knew it.” Death told his companions on the roof “No-one can be that edgy and not have a black Soul.” what did he mean by that? Did he just call that heart my...Soul? I couldn't feel anything from it, apart from a weird sensation...like an echo in a cave, too inaudible to be understandable.

“Whatever, let's just end this battle right here and now!” I screamed as the cats returned to their little concert “No need to fear, it's time you burn that dread!”. Papyrus tried to use his magic to stop me, but I was too fast: apart from one time where I almost had to stop to avoid hitting one of those spiked femurs, I didn't have to break a sweat. Before he could summon that bone club he used against me before, I used my Spinning Bird Kick against him, hitting him repeatedly in the skull and ultimately destroying his last hope of winning.

He landed on his back and closed his eyes, but I could sense he was still conscious. “No...my dreams...they're gone...” somehow, he started...crying? How could he cry, he didn't even have eyes!

“Human...it seems...I have underestimated you...nyeh heh heh...” even while admitting defeat, he made that awful laugh “...The only punishment I deserve for failing...is death...I don't want to live to face the consequences of my failure...”

He seemed destroyed, both outside and inside, but I didn't hit him too hard: if I let him live, there was a chance he would've been able to keep hunting me...maybe his plan was just that, trying to lure me into sparing him so he could backstab me...but I had a feeling he was trustworthy, that sparing him wouldn't have been a bad course of action.

I quickly shoved those thoughts away as I needed to focus: one does not simply spare a monstrous skeleton just because he feels like it.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's today's Strawpoll!  
> http://strawpoll.me/7192576
> 
> Remember that every choice you make has a direct consequence and an indirect one.  
> So, what might save you for the time being might ruin your life later on and vice-versa.  
> I hope you're being entertained, I'll see you later. =3
> 
> Edit: I forgot to add a phrase just before the battle with Papyrus. Let's see who can spot it first. =3


	12. Snowland: Judgement

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I decided to spare the skeleton, even though Asriel didn't want me to.  
> Before entering another area of the Underground, Waterfall, I had to participate in another "Judgement"...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This will be the last chapter this March: I have a huge school project I need to finish before the 1st, so I don't have a lot of time.  
> I got so much stuff going on and so little time to complete it...sometimes I wish there were multiple mes...  
> Well, enjoy this chapter!

_[MERCY: Spare]_

 

I started walking past him, not caring about the skeleton's cry; as soon as he noticed I wasn't going to kill him, he rose to his feet and asked me “Why aren't you doing anything? Why aren't you killing me?”

“I beat you, right? Then accept your defeat and go treat your injuries.” I told him, not bothering to turn around and look at him in the eyes.

“B-But...” he was about to say something but I interrupted him “But what? But I should kill you because you're an enemy? Or because you're a monster?” I kept on walking forward as I heard Asriel reach me and walk by my side; I continued my explanation “As long as killing is an option and not a necessity, I won't resort to that. Now fuck off.”

I kept on walking forward, ignoring the skeleton who kept on crying like a baby. Before I could leave the village I spotted a figure observing me from the corner of an alley, disappearing soon afterwards: I briefly searched for that monster, but I didn't find anything. I hoped it was just my imagination...

 

After getting through the village, me and Asriel had to walk for a few more minutes before reaching some sort of entrance: for the entirety of those two minutes, Asriel kept cursing at me for letting the skeleton live.

“In a few hours that monster will hunt you again! Will hunt _us_ again! Besides, he wanted to die! What other justification do you need?” he yelled at me.

“If you wanted him dead, then why didn't you kill him yourself genius?” I retorted.

He frowned as he explained “The war is ours, but that battle was yours only. I would have never killed an opponent that was not destined to be defeated by me...”

“Yeah, yeah, that's a lot of bullshit.” I looked at the ceiling “If that's your answer, then please shut the fuck up. I ain't got time to hear you babble...” he looked at me weirdly, but he did not say anything.

Temmie then asked him who...and what were those cats from before: he told her about the encounter we had with them some time before, in the Ruins. After listening to his explanation, she tried to explain her curiosity “Before I...well, before I started traveling I had a job. My job was to know everything about monsters in general...I had information related to a lot of monsters, private data and such...so I know at least all the species of monsters that live under the mountain, and those “cats”, as you call them, are not monsters, I can tell you that much.”

“Of that I am sure.” Asriel told her “They are way too random to be normal monsters.”

“...I hate randomity...” Temmie murmured.

Anyway, we eventually reached an entrance to some sort of cave: the blue rocky walls seemed pretty old and resistant, the temperature had warmed up a little. It wasn't hot, but it wasn't cold anymore either: the lukewarming air temperature was promising to say the least. I was becoming a bit bored of the iced environment of Snowland.

“This is the entrance to Waterfall. We're getting closer to the Royal Palace.” Asriel announced.

-And the barrier...- I thought. I asked Asriel “Who chose these names anyway? Snowland, Waterfall...they're too simplistic for a nation of motherfuckers.”

“My father did.” he chuckled as he explained “He hated naming things, but he hated having others do that for him as well. He always chose the fastest route for everything: the place is cold? Let us call it Snowland! Lava on the floor? Hotland is magnificent! Naming your child? Simply mixing yours and your wife's names is sufficient...”

“Wait, you mean that...” I didn't want to believe what he just said.

“Yes, apparently: As-gore, To-riel...mix those names together and you have Asriel.”

“Or Togore.” Temmie inserted herself in the conversation.

“Thankfully my father chose the name Asriel: I would have killed myself upon finding out that my name was Togore...”

From that seemingly useless conversation I had learned that Asriel's mother...presumably the Queen's name was Toriel. There was a possibility that was not her complete name, but it was slim. I considered asking Asriel about her: up until then, everyone mentioned the King but never the Queen...there had to be a valid reason.

We entered the cave, specifically some sort of antechamber: it was small, like the one where...I immediately looked at the floor and shockingly realized it had the same painting as the one where we originally met those cats. This could only mean...

“Why hello there!” I heard Karma greet me from the center of the room, his companions right behind him: how could I have missed him? I didn't see him before...maybe he could teleport just like that skeleton, Sans?

“Greetings...” Asriel returned the salute “I must thank you for that...concert you made before: it made the battle significantly more entertaining to watch.” I couldn't understand if he was serious or not.

“Thank you!” the white cat, Felicity expressed her gratitude “We worked really hard!”

“Indeed...” the black one, Death added “...Except mister Karma over here...”

“Hey, I installed the background music!” he defended himself “That's worth something, right?”

The cats looked first at the ceiling, then back at us “Anyway, why don't we get this “Judgement” thing over quickly?” Death asked “I got stuff to do.”

“Judgement?” Temmie inquired, puzzled “What's that?”

“It's...complicated.” Karma didn't explain, but he told her “You'll understand shortly.”

Temmie was not content of the answer she received, but she didn't inquire him further. That's when Felicity exclaimed “Hey, I want to test something!”

“What, exactly?” Karma inquired.

“Yeah, since we're cats...can you give me a piece of buttered toast?” everyone in the room looked at her weirdly except Karma, whose smile grew immensely “Oh, yes! I know what you want to do!”

Suddenly a ladder appeared in the middle of the room, spooking me a little; when I looked at Felcity I was even more surprised to constate that a piece of buttered toast was now solidly attached to her back thanks to a piece of cloth acting like a security belt.

“We're going to make history, gentlemen!” Karma exclaimed as he rubbed his hands excitedly.

I didn't know what was about to happen, nor did my monster companions: we could only watch as the female cat climbed the ladder and jumped, letting herself go...she didn't touch the ground, however, as she started rotating hastily a few inches before touching the ground. It didn't seem like she was going to stop soon; I couldn't understand how was she hovering over the ground like that.”

“Ladies and gentlemen...” Karma announced “...What you're admiring right now is the infamous “Buttered Cat Engine”!” he turned to Death “We created perpetual motion!”

“This is stupid...” he simply commented “Why did you have to do that?”

“It's too fast!” I heard Felicity scream “I changed my mind! Let me land!”

Karma snapped his fingers and Felicity disappeared for a brief moment, before reapparing right next to him the following: she crumbled to the ground, immoble. From the looks of it she was still alive, only a bit confused.

I pondered on what did the yin-yang cat do: he materialized an object in the middle of the room, he directly attached to Felicity a...piece of toast, for whatever reason, and now he moved her from where she was to right next to him, like it was nothing. Just how poweful was that cat?

“Anyway, Death is right: we should start this Judgement immediately.” he said as the room became even darker: a beam of light illuminated him and me, the only ones in that dark space...I couldn't sense Asriel, Temmie nor the other two cats anymore, but they were still there...right?

“You know how it works, don't you?” he asked me “I'm going to talk, and you're going to listen. Whether you agree with me or not is your problem, I sincerely don't care...do you imagine how long would these Judgements last if we were to argue over them? A lot. So, just limit yourself to listen, please.”

I nodded in approval, I didn't want to waste time either...but I still wondered why did he want to do these sorts of assessments. What reason could he have to waste his time and mine like that?

“ **First off, when you had the choice of avoiding or confronting Papyrus,** _ **you chose to hide**_ **. Even though you ended up acquainting him anyway, it's still worth trying to analyze your choice: there were multiple possible reasons for trying to hide, but all of them** _ **had the ultimate goal of avoiding a direct fight with Papyrus, either because you feared him...or because you feared hurting him. Something tells me the latter is the true reason...**_ **but that's simple speculation, let's move on to more solid evidence.**

**You were then confronted with the dilemma of aiding or not the snowman, _and even though there was no reward whatsoever you chose to help him_. Usually, when someone helps someone else is because they want something in return...but you didn't ask for any of that: _you chose to help him simply and solely because you could...or maybe because you felt like it was the right thing to do_ ; either way, you helped him and that's what matters.**

**When you met the two dogs, the ones with the giant axes to be precise, _you chose to solve the conflict peacefully;_ now, there are a few theories to consider here: _you said you did that because you could, because you wanted to challenge yourself...but is that really the truth_? _I personally believe that you either chose that option because you wanted to be “good” and avoid fighting when possible...or you just wanted to see where that door would've led you._ You know, I don't really care if you solve your encounters peacefully or not: everything's fine as long as you're coherent with yourself.**

**Then you were presented with the choice of avoiding or not Snowdin Village: _despite Asriel warned you of a potential surprise attack, you chose to enter the city nonetheless_. In the end, you found out that everyone was too scared to even think of ambushing you...but that's not the point: _entering the village was an act of bravery, completely optional since you could've spared yourself the trouble of doing so_. I have doubts, though: _I feel like you did it...without thinking of the consequences_. _Did you do it because you think you're invincible_? If you did, then please stop: if you keep toying with fire, you're eventually going to get burned...**

**Lastly, _you decided to spare Papyrus, even though he specifically asked you not to do so_. This brings me back to when you spared Asriel...or Chara, rather: _the circumstances were different, but the choice was exactly the same_. In the end, you chose to spare the skeleton nonetheless: _either you truly believe he can be different...or you did so just to avoid killing him_. And once again, it's fine: the show must go on, as they say.** ”

“That's it?” I asked.

“That's it.” he answered “You know what? Since you've been so cooperative, I might as well gift you something.”

“A gift?” I asked, surprised.

“Yes, a gift: I'll let you ask me one question, and one question only. The rules are simple: the question must be related to your current journey, which means you can't ask me...if the aliens are real or not, for example...”

“I would never ask you that.” I pointed out. I didn't believe in the existence of extraterrestrials...but I didn't believe in monsters before falling down there either...

“...Anyway, you can't ask me such questions and you can't ask me about me or my crew members either. 'Cause...you know, privacy and stuff.” he chuckled a bit and added “Not to mention that would be spoilers, and spoilers ruin the fun for everyone.”

I reflected a bit, considering all the possible questions I could've made: I could've asked him about Asriel, about Chara, even about Temmie, I could've asked him about those lightning powers I had...but there was a question I absolutely needed to answer “Why is my Soul black? I mean, I'm not an expert on Souls but...it doesn't feel...natural. Like it's not supposed to be of that color.”

I felt my Soul exit my body once more: it was orbiting next to my chest, still of that gooey black tonality that made me feel sick just by looking at it.

“That Soul hasn't always been black, you know?” Karma told me, answering my question “The reason why it has become...like that, is...complicated. What you did _before coming here_ has a certain relevancy...”

“Does that mean...I did something bad before losing my memories?” I asked, a bit worried: maybe that was the reason why I had become so...angry at everything, why I found it so easy to punch my way through everything.

“Now, don't put words in my mouth: I said _before you came here_ , not _before you fell here_. I understand those sentences look exactly the same, but...there is a certain difference you won't be able to understand right now.” his grin expanded, it was now the same size as the Cheshire Cat's “I bet someone already understood...” he laughed, a laugh so glacial the blood in my veins froze: he was way better at laughing like a megalomaniac than Asriel, that was for sure.

“If you're done, then I would suggest moving on.” I heard Asriel tell me: he was standing at my right, Temmie right above him. I didn't know I could see them, since how long could I talk with them?

“Hey, check this out.” I heard Death tell his friend: he had with him a small laptop, opened on some website “I tried modifying Wikipedia's article on the Buttered Cat Engine...”

“And?” Karma's grin widened even more.

“And I got insta-banned.” the black cat started laughing as he dropped the laptop to the ground, thankfully not ruining it too much...why did I even care about their stuff? I was way too nice.

“Wow, you got roundhouse-kicked faster than a bad guy in a Chuck Norris movie...” Karma laughed at his own joke, then returned to his usual semi-serious expression “Anyway, we're done here. Grab Felicity, we're moving out.” the black cat grabbed his friend and held her with his two paws, like she was the damsel in distress of some old film: it was tremendously cute, but I didn't comment on it.

“Well, it's been nice to converse with you. Until next time!” the yin-yang cat saluted me as he disappeared in an instant, along with his two buddies. The ladder in the middle of the room disappeared as well, as the piece of toast did a minute before. Everything returned to what I presumed was normal, it felt like those cats had never even entered the room.

“That was completely useless.” Temmie commented “I mean, it was fun to hear that cat, Karma, but...I don't understand them, really. Aren't we losing time?”

“I do not think so.” Asriel expressed his viewpoint “They do not look like normal monsters at all...I do not understand their motivations, but they must have a reason to do this. If they were foes, they would have attacked us already...then what do they want from us? They seem like they are allies, but they do not do anything to help us directly...I am honestly confused.”

“Yeah, me too.” I added “Let's keep humoring them, for now, at least until we know something more about them...then, we'll decide what to do with them.”

“What we do with them? Maybe it's best to wonder...what will they do with us?” Asriel whispered to himself, but I heard him anyway. Where those cats really that powerful? If they were, then why were they so...weird?  
We decided to temporarily forget about this meeting and to keep moving forward...

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, no Strawpoll today.  
> Anyway, what do you think of those cats?  
> They seem pretty random, but...perhaps they're more serious than anyone else in this novel...  
> Nah, just kidding, they're simply random. =3


	13. Waterfall: Dread

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We finally entered Waterfall, where everything looked ten times darker than it shoud have been.  
> I met a small annoying lizard, almost died again and then risked to be found out by an irascible Royal Guard...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finished this chapter at midnight: I'm getting awfully late lately, don't you think?  
> Also I noticed very few people commented on the last chapter: do you know how embarrassing it is not to receive comments for three days straight?  
> Listen guys, I'm writing this story just to hear from you...it's like a contract: I give you this work free and you give me your opinions. I don't think I'm asking too much! =3  
> I hope you'll understand me, I really hope you do.

_After Frisk had left the village to continue her voyage through the Underground, Papyrus seemed unsure of what to do next. He was still crying, maybe he had yet to realize he was still alive thanks to that girl's kindness...well, at least what little kindness she still had.  
It looked like he had forgotten our existence, we were still watching him from a nearby rooftop and yet he didn't do anything to scare us away. Sure, if he tried Karma and Death would've probably told him to...deal with it, to avoid using vulgar expressions, but I wasn't content with the way we were dealing with the situation._

_I immediately saw Sans appear next to his brother and ask him “Y'okay bro?”_

“ _...No...” the monster answered “I'm not okay at all...”_

“ _Ya let the human run away, yes?” the inquisitive skeleton asked._

“ _...Yes...are you hear to remind me I asked you not to interfere? Maybe you want to tease me and say that, if it were for you, she would've been dead where she stood?” Papyrus's skull was filled with anger, he was shouting at his own brother, the only one who cared about him..._

“ _Nope.” the tall skeleton's eyesockets widened “I'm here to tell ya ya shouldn't give up. The human let you live, right? Use this opportunity to backstab her...” I couldn't believe Sans was actually suggesting that...I thought he was always supposed to care for Frisk, in a way or another._

_Obviously the tall skeleton stopped crying, thanked his brother for his...kind words and ran to his reunion with Undyne, I could've foresaw that. Papyrus didn't seem to care for his brother like...the other Papyrus I knew, but he still relayed on him a lot: I guess some things never change._

_My two companions had their gazes stuck on the short skeleton, who was still looking at his brother running off in the distance “Hey Karma, how much does Sans know?” Death asked, suspicious._

“ _Enough.” the other answered “Enough to be mad at her...and at you.”_

_I couldn't understand the entity's words, but Death seemed to have “Sometimes I hate you so much...”_

“ _Who doesn't, honestly?” Karma's smile widened, he seemed to like making that weird, Cheshire-like grin “It's difficult to understand who's the bad guy and who's the good guy, isn't it? Down here, everything's so complicated...I guess that's why I like this place so much.” he chuckled, but he controlled himself “Anyway, we should go...”_

_I looked at the small skeleton, who was looking at us without saying anything “Wouldn't want to anger that little fellow just yet...” Karma finished. In a flash, the environment around us shifted, taking us far, far away from that monster: we were now in Waterfall, observing Frisk and her monster companions from the distance..._

 

After making it through that familiar-looking room, we truly entered Waterfall: there was black everywhere, even the dirt I was walking on had a blueish tonality. Unlike Snowland, where everything was somewhat bright and you could almost fool yourself thinking the Sun still shined down there, in Waterfall everything was so utterly dark...a chill run down my spine, but I tried to ignore it the best I could.

An ominous sensation filled the atmosphere, making my every step a bit uncertain; Asriel had to have noticed it as he started to taunt me “Are you still shaken from that Judgement? Come on, you just learned you were a really bad person before losing your memory: it cannot be so bad!”

I wanted to shut his mouth and tell him that those cats were the last of my worries but Temmie caught my attention first: she was sitting above my head, as usual, but she was...trembling. I asked her what was wrong.

“N-Nothing! I-It's just that...we're getting awfully close to where I was trying to g-get away from...” she seemed terrified at the perspective of going somewhere specific “I-I want to continue with you b-but...don't lower your guard, p-please...”

“If you are scared, you should run away.” Asriel immediately advised her “But, if you want to come with us so desperately, then I might do as you say and be prepared...” he grinned as he added “I would not like to forfeit that money you promised us...” I should've known he was doing it solely for the money.

Anyway, we proceeded down a short hallway until we entered another small room: a small river was flowing on the floor, but thankfully avoiding it was entirely possible; the only thing that I found interesting in that room apart from the river was another one of those sentry posts...I hoped I wouldn't have met another Royal Guard after only two seconds in Waterfall.

I looked around, as if expecting something else: indeed, I found a monster spying on me from the corner of the room. The monster looked like a small lizard, it's skin was yellow and scaly...he was as tall as a kid, which made me ponder on his actual age. The only piece of clothing he was wearing was a black-and-yellow striped sweater, which for some weird reason didn't have sleeves...like, at all. I facepalmed as I realized that was because he didn't have hands.

The monster didn't look happy to see me, since it started growling furiously (at least as ferociously a kid can try to be) as soon as he apprehended I knew of his presence “Bah, she saw me...dammit.”

“Who the heck are you?” I inquired, a bit surprised. That kid had been spying me, that was for sure...-Maybe he was the shadow I saw at Snowdin?- I wondered. -No, that couldn't have been possible...if he was, he would've had to come here before us...how fast is this kid?- as I lost myself theorizing about that small monster the creature approached me and looked at me straight in the eyes “Well, well, well...a human, huh? I never believed in your existence, but...” he tried to touch me with his head but I slapped him in the face and shouted “Can't touch this, boy!”

He backed away but he kept looking at me “You seem much stronger than I originally thought too...you managed to defeat that asshole in no time, after all...” he chuckled a little bit as he added “Yeah, you're perfect for the job...”

“What job? What the heck do you want from me? Who are you, for fuck's sake?” I yelled, confused and annoyed: why all monsters I encountered had to be so...weird? Was I the only sane person in that hellhole?

“I don't have a name...” he looked away, but I saw a tear escaping his eye “My parents never bothered giving me one...” he then returned to his usual attitude and greeted me “...But those who know me call me MK. It's a pleasure to meet you, human.”

He didn't seem pleased at all, but I acted as if I didn't notice it “My name is Frisk...nice to meet you as well.” I looked at him, fire burning in my eyes and lightning sparkling in my fists “And now tell me what the hell do you want from me before I use you to wipe the fucking floor!”

He grinned as he answered “Ha! You would like to know!” he turned around and started running “Don't worry, you dweeb: in the end you'll end up doing exactly as I want!” he laughed loudly but, as he was running away, he tripped and fell on the ground face first. “Ouch...” he sighed as he managed to get up from the ground (which was incredible, considering he didn't have arms to help himself with) and disappear from my sight.

“What a jerk.” Asriel commented, emotionless “Does he really think he can toy you like that?”

“Let me guess: you're going to say that only you can do that?” I asked, unsurprised.

“Have I really become so predictable?” the monster put a hand on his chest, feigning astonishment “And in less than a day as well...Chara do you have any new ideas for taunts?” was he really asking his dead friend for help? “...Oh, come on! You cannot let me down like that? What do you mean “I'm not going to help you torture her”? Where's your humor?”

“I'm wondering that too.” I jumped as I heard Sans' voice coming from my left: he was behind the sentry post, smiling at me in that creepy, enigmatic way as he scratched his back with his sharp, bony fingers “'Sup, kiddos.”

-Since when had he been there? Since I knew he could teleport at will, I suspected he had just arrived “Oh, it's you.” I greeted him coldly “I hope you had a fine lunch.”

“Oh, I sure did.” he confessed “Had a lot of time to ponder on some things...” he disappeared for a second and later reappeared atop the sentry post, sitting on the roof and dangling his legs “Seems like ya didn't kill my brother in the end...”

My cheeks reddened a bit as I answered “Well, I promised to you not to harm him...of course I didn't kill him.”

“Nah, ya didn't.” he got down from the roof and decided to start conversing seriously “Ya promised me not to kill him if he didn't try to kill ya. However, even if he tried to kill ya for real, ya simply...knocked him out. And let him go. That's noble of ya, y'know?”

He walked past me and asked “By the way, how'd ya know that Grillby's is a bar?” I turned around to have a better look at him but he had vanished. Asriel approached me meekly and asked, uncertain “That's right: how did you know that? Not even I knew that, and I doubt someone told you before...” he grabbed me by the chin and looked at me directly from up close “...Who...What are you?”

I backed away as I pointed out “It's a little late to ask me that question, don't you think?” it seemed to have work as he stopped looking at me and turned towards where we needed to go, where that yellow lizard had disappeared “We need to continue, we have a limited window of time before we are discovered...”

We continued along the hallway until we entered a gigantic cave, cut in half by a gigantic river: the water was flowing extremely fast, but the water itself didn't seem too deep...I had a feeling I could traverse the river with ease. The exit from that room was on the other side of the river, which supported my theory...I prayed my assumptions were correct, as I didn't want to imagine what would've happened if they weren't.

I communicated my suppositions to Asriel, which nodded in approval “I too think that it's the only way...my only regret is that my robe will become all wet...” I didn't listen to him bragging about how expensive his clothes were and all that jazz and made my first step into the cold water: as I expected, the water wasn't very deep, it only reached my knees.

I kept on walking towards the other side of the room, I could hear the goat's steps behind mine as he kept swearing every three seconds about how awful the whole situation was...I wished I had earplugs to not listen to him bitching about everything.

“Look out!” I heard Temmie cry as I saw something gray come at me at high speed from my left, it looked like an enormous bolder of some kind: I closed my eyes and readied myself for the hit...

 

“ _Stay here, okay?” the monster told me to hide behind a pillar and insisted that I watched something “I don't want Mom and Dad to see you, so be quiet or else...”_

“ _Or else I'm going to die horribly and painfully...” I had learned those words like they were the lyrics of a song, every now and then they used them to scare me...but I was beginning to think he wouldn't have killed me anytime soon: I was too entertaining to him to be scared of being disposed of. As long as I let him do whatever he wanted with my body and Soul, he would've been happy...and I would've survived._

_After a few minutes, everything became clearer to me: I wasn't going to watch a parade or some kind of ritual...no, nothing on those lines. I was going to watch an execution: a monster had been tied to a cross in the middle of the room, I couldn't quite understand what kind of monster it was...it looked like some kind of ogre-like brute, but I had not seen a lot of monsters up until then._

_The King and Queen of monsterkind were watching the scene from a dozen feet away, almost excited: the executioner, from the looks of it, was Asriel himself._

“ _My son...” the King announced “This monster tried to assassinate me twice, and I finally managed to capture him: he's been sentenced to death, and I want you to be the one to put an end to his miserable life.”_

_The small goat answered proudly “Yes sir! All enemies of my Father are my enemies as well!” he then turned towards the condemned monster, who had been begging for mercy for as long as I could remember “So, you don't like how my Dad handles things, huh? That's alright...” I could see that malicious grin of his forming on his face from where I was “...Maybe you'll like how I handle things better...”_

_The wooden cross began burning black pyres, the monster was visibly in pain and it's screams were getting louder by the second; “Hmm, I'm almost tempted to leave you like that...let you die a slow death...yes, it would be fitting for a swine like you...” his grin got even wider “But I'm getting bored, let's play target practice!”_

_A monster I couldn't identify brought a small bag to the Prince, who opened it excitedly: from the looks of it, the box contained a wide assortment of knives. Long, short, big, small, wide, thin...they were all shaped uniquely and they all looked extremely sharp and dangerous._

_Asriel chose a tiny dagger, it was as big as one of my fingers, and launched it nonchalantly towards the monster: the knife hit him precisely in the chest, where I supposed the heart was located. The monster's screams became inaudible, they reverted to coughs and small pleas of mercy..._

_The monster had not died yet though, and Asriel rejoiced at the news: he began to search for a very specific knife between that collection...I couldn't watch this anymore, so I deviated my gaze towards the King and Queen._

_While the King seemed satisfied with how his son was handling the situation, proud that his son had become a perfect killing machine as, at least I suspected so, he was designed to be, the Queen wasn't very happy at all. She had a very sad expression on her face, I caught a tear escape her right eye but she wiped it off as soon as she could. She had to be strong, or so I thought. Maybe not everyone was as bad as I thought..._

 

“Hey, are you okay?” I could feel Temmie's voice calling out to me “Wake up, please!”

I immediately got up and scouted my surroundings: I was just past the river, my feet weren't walking on slippery mud anymore but on dry land; “What happened?” I inquired.

“You were almost hit by a boulder flowing with the current, but...” she pointed at the goat monster from above my head: he was scouting the path ahead, double-checking there were no enemies in sight “He managed to get you out of the way...but after he saved you, you fell unconscious...”

“I seem to have a bad habit of doing so...” I joked, chuckling “...I should go thank him, then.” I approached the goat and was about to congratulate him for his courage when he forcibly closed my mouth and ordered me to flatten against the nearby wall “Don't make a sound.” he ordered.

As we sneaked through a seemingly long corridor, I heard some voices...above us “Well, well...The Great Papyrus finally has something to communicate me? How unusual...” a dark voice spoke: it seemed to belong to a girl, but it was so deep I couldn't tell.

“Yes, Captain Undyne...” that voice...so it really was Papyrus! -What a tattletale, maybe Asriel was right: I should've killed him when I had the chance...-

“I have new information to provide you: a human has made it past the Ruins, and is now venturing through the Underground...” the skeleton said.

“Interesting...that probably means that the Prince, Asriel, is dead...I know for a fact he would've killed the human on sight! What joyous news you're bringing me, bonehead!” I saw the goat's fist become tighter and tighter as his lips spelled the word “fucker” and some others I couldn't understand.

“I doubt it, Captain.” the skeleton showed his trump card “The human isn't venturing alone: the Prince, Asriel Dreemurr, is helping her, indirectly protecting her...there's also another small monster with them, but it's not very important...it's just another one of those Temmies...” now Temmie was the one getting charged up: those two really wanted to punch something, they were desperate about that.

“The Prince...so, the rumors were true: he really...bah, I don't even want to say it out loud...” she emitted a puking sound, but I doubted it was for real “If they managed to evade you and your brother, those two must be truly skilled...heh, finally a good challenge! I will finally be able to show to his Majesty what I'm made for!”

As the female Royal Guard kept rambling, we managed to hide in a patch of very high grass: it was impossible to see an inch away, so I doubted those two would've managed to see us...what now though?

Asriel's plan finished there, he revealed so when we entered the bush, now it was my job to get us out of that tricky situation: we had two Guards atop us, maybe we could've sneaked in and attacked them by surprise...

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's today's Strawpoll!  
> http://strawpoll.me/7262481
> 
> And hey, those are multiple choices! Haven't seen those in a while.  
> I hope you're enjoying this story so far, keep telling me what you think in the comments. Bye! =3


	14. Waterfall: Excitement

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We eluded Undyne once, and we did it twice. I found out that Temmie was more helpful than I could possibly imagine.  
> Then...well, let's just say the cats proved useful once more. Especially one of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jeez...I'm getting lazier and lazier every day, huh?  
> I missed the upload yesterday for no reason, sorry about that. I would surely need some determination, huh?  
> But yeah, sorry for that and I hope this chapter is of your liking!
> 
> [Promotional message: I made a new fic, which is a crossover between this work, another work of mine called "The Social Rule" and "Above", an Undertale fanfic from a friend of mine, SamIamNot13. Even though the characters from this fic appear only from chapter 2 onwards, I would suggest you to check it out already, as it's tons of fun to read. Plus, it might give you some hints... http://archiveofourown.org/works/6461026]

_[ACT: Hide]_

 

Papyrus and the other Guard, who he identified as his captain Undyne, kept talking for a whole minute: what they talked about wasn't interesting to me at all, they kept rambling about how powerful they were compared to us...what a bunch of losers, the skeleton met me and lost while she didn't even encounter me yet...either she was truly confident or truly idiotic.

“You will come with me and help me patrol this area, Papyrus.” the woman announced, making me a bit disappointed: I would've preferred to keep that skeleton monster behind, if possible. At least I had the advantage he was still wounded from the fight earlier...it would've been easier to knock him out this time around.

“Of course, Captain Undyne...” he muttered as the two disappeared in the darkness, leaving me and Asriel alone in the room...at least so I hoped.

“Are we safe?” Temmie asked softly from the top of my head.

“I believe so...” Asriel whispered, I could feel him right in front of me “I do not feel their presence anymore, we should be fine...”

We all got out from that patch of tall grass, content we managed to avoid a direct confrontation. Asriel was particularly glad of my decision of waiting, as he didn't trust my capabilities in defeating that foe “Believe me, my father chooses his right-hand man carefully...if that monster gained the status she currently has, then that must be because she is particularly powerful and dangerous...I would suggest extreme caution from now on.”

“Are you saying I wouldn't be able to beat her?” I asked, a bit offended “I can destroy that motherfucker when the heck I want! Are you doubting my skill?”

“Yes.” he answered as he grinned “You're powerful, indeed, but if you underestimate your opponent like that then you're going to die for sure.” he started to walk away as I was left wondering. Perhaps he was right, I needed to study my opponent first before engaging in combat, but I wasn't going to admit he was. That would've been too humiliating to bare.

“Hey, you!” a rough voice from behind me shouted. My heart skipped a beat, thinking that was a monster about to strike me down...I turned around, ready for combat, when I noticed it was just the lizard from before. He didn't look like he was going to attack me, but he was looking aggressive for sure “What the heck was that?”

I looked at him askance, and asked him in return “What the heck was what?”

“Why didn't you attack her when you had the chance?” he was visibly angry, but I didn't have the time to bother about him so I started walking towards Asriel. He wasn't happy I was ignoring him, at all, so he begun yelling at me “I will remember this!”

-Well, I already forgot.- I joked as I reunited with my companion and started delving further in the water-filled area called Waterfall.

 

I always wondered why were there so many traps scattered all over the Underground: -What's their purpose?- I asked myself. I knew I was only the second human to fall down there, so there was no reason to be prepared for something that could've, potentially, never came...unless they were so paranoid about that possibility that they readied themselves in advance...extremely in advance.

Despite they were somewhat decent, definitely more challenging and more difficult to cheat through than the ones Papyrus designed, I was still a professional at solving them. I took a liking in solving each “puzzle”, as I started calling them, in a different way than the one the creator originally planned. Asriel was pleased I solved the traps as I did, he believed it was “entertaining”...and somewhat instructive, to the both of us. Temmie reminded him that she was there as well, to which he replied “Oh, I had forgotten. Sorry, you are so easy to neglect...” I had to stop her from lashing out on him, a surprisingly difficult task. The girl was little, but she bit like a bulldog.

Monsters didn't stop attacking me either, it seemed like everywhere I went I was destined to be assaulted by useless idiots who couldn't even aim a shot right...they all returned to where they came from, my boot still impressed on their face...or whatever other appendages they had that resembled a face. They were getting weirder and weirder though, the monsters I mean: I was still pondering whether their behavior was considerable normal, at least down there, or if maybe they had been crazed by the hellish world they lived in. I couldn't prove pity for them, but it was still a question worth answering.

We eventually arrived in a long, wide room: a corridor, filled with nothing else but silence. The only way to get across the room was a very, very long bridge, suspended on...I couldn't figure out whether that was water, which would've made it a lake of some sort, or...the nothing, which would've made it a ravine. I didn't know which of the two options scared me the most, as I didn't know how to swim. At least, I didn't think I knew.

We started walking, but Temmie asked us almost immediately to stop “There's something...weird.”

“What is it now?” Asriel asked impatiently “The more we wait, the more we-”

“They found us.” she explained at supersonic speed as she jumped high in the air and pulled a coin out of her jacket: without hesitation, she tossed the coin somewhere on our left...I heard something scrape the air as it flew towards us. The object, which I couldn't quite identify even though I knew it was...blue, got blocked by the small coin; I found it somewhat weird, considering the object looked somewhat big and the coin was only an inch long...but I wasn't going to question it, it wasn't the right time and place to do so.

“Looks like the bonehead was wrong...” a dark, proud voice echoes through the cavern “The Temmie is worth something, after all...”

It was clear who that voice belonged to: Undyne, the Royal Guard. I couldn't see her, she was hiding in the shadows...perhaps that room wasn't as simple as I thought. Temmie landed on my head once more and prepared more of her little, circular coins as she shouted “Run, you fools!”

She didn't need to ask me twice: I was already running as fast as I could towards the exit on the other side of the room, Asriel closely behind. I could now see what those projectiles were: blue spears, flying towards me from somewhere unspecified on my right and left...how could she be everywhere and nowhere at the same time? Asriel tried shooting some of his dark, gloomy fireballs at our sides and in front of us, but they didn't seem to hit anything.

“Damn...she is not shooting these spears from where she is: she is summoning them wherever she can to distract us!” he screamed, at least he tried to: his voice was extremely low due to fatigue “Keep running and keep your guard up!”

Temmie was doing her best to defend us: from atop my head, she shot those coins like they were kunais. She held them between her fingers, like a ninja would, and she shot them only when she was sure the shot would've hit us...or her. Undyne seemed to target her as well, but she was doing a great job of dodging those projectiles by themselves. She was very good, for a little critter.

We eventually managed to arrive to the other side of the room after a whole minute spent dodging those damn lances and completely emptying our lungs: we couldn't run anymore, so we decided to hide in a nearby bush made of tall grass just for a few seconds, to regain breath.

“Where are you, you little punks?” she sounded angry, annoyed that we managed to elude her. I would've told her to go fuck herself, but I didn't think it was a wise course of action. She started looking in the grass, trying to figure out where we were, but, unbeknownst to her, we had already started moving forward, as silently as we could.

It took us a few minutes to actually realize we had fully escaped her. She wasn't going to give up on her search just yet, at least we believed so, but we wanted to think she was at least enough far away to let us rest in peace for an instant.

“Do you now see why did I ask you to be careful?” Asriel insisted “We must not underestimate that knight, she looks...unpredictable. Commonly, monsters can only spawn magic bullets around them, or somewhere in front of them sometimes, but there are some monsters that can freely cast magic even dozens of feet away from themselves...” he explained as I listened intently “...I, of course, am capable of doing so as well...but that is because I am a boss monster, and that is only natural. She does not look like a boss monster at all...which makes her much more intimidating.”

He finished his explanation, which I believed was necessary now that we knew who we were dealing with, then moved on to more...mundane matters “I must thank you though, Temmie. You did an amazing job before, without you...well, that would have ended poorly.”

She was shy to admit her merits, but ultimately accepted our compliments and gratitude. I was beginning to consider her more than simple comic relief, she had saved my life twice and I knew that wasn't going to be the last time either. I had to rely on everything I could to survive down there, and friends can sometimes be the most valuable tool at your disposal.

We ventured further in Waterfall, until we reached another extremely long corridor: it didn't look as long and shady as the last one, the light from an adjacent room was helping to see a bit more in the darkness that made the room. As with the corridor we...formally encountered Undyne in, the only way to proceed through the room was to walk on a very long pathway, which looked much solider than the bridge from before.

I could now see that what was below me was indeed water, a water so dark and deep I could've mistaken it for petrol if Asriel wasn't sure it was, indeed, pure water. I briefly considered drinking it, since all that running had made me quite tired and thirsty, but I was suggested otherwise by Temmie: not all monsters, apparently, preferred to live on the ground...as I heard those words, I immediately regretted even thinking of it.

“Wait.” Temmie urged us to stop “Something's...odd.”

We immediately raised our guards, expecting Undyne to hit us at any moment; Temmie, however, wasn't sure it was her “I don't see anywhere she could hit us from...and this scent...this isn't Undyne...”

Suddenly, I heard a splash noise as I felt Temmie being stolen from me: she cried as what looked like a tentacle that emerged from the abyssal water grabbed her by the legs and held her away, out of my reach. As I was still figuring out what was going on, something else emerged from the river: a giant...octopus monster? Or was it a squid? I couldn't tell, I wasn't an expert on fishes and the likes.

The creature emitted a loud noise, clearly directed at us, as more tentacles appeared out of the water in front of us and targeted us systematically. I tried devising a counter-attack while dodging those gigantic tentacles, but...it felt like the thoughts automatically escaped my head, preventing me from doing anything more than avoid being hit.

Much to my surprise, something...colorful hit those appendages, shoving them backwards towards the creature they belonged to; as I was trying to figure out what had happened, a sharp, high voice chuckled a few feet behind me “Well well, looks like someone might need our help...”

I turned backwards only to be met by the three cats, Karma, Death and Felicity: the first two had weapons in their hands, while the latter wasn't holding anything.

The black-and-white cat held what looked like a Gatling gun, except...well, it looked more like a children toy than an actual weapon; the black one had a sniper rifle, but that too looked very childish and innocent...how could those two toys deliver such a blow?

“Anyway, hello there.” Karma greeted me “We were passing by and we thought we could give you a hand! Or...a paw...” he laughed very slowly as he looked to his companions: neither of the two laughed, nor did I or Asriel for that matter. That made that joke even more humiliating.

“Anyway, uh...take this.” he grabbed something that was previously tied to his back and tossed it to me: it looked like a fake pistol, except it didn't have a magazine slot in it.

“What am I supposed to do with it?” I asked, suspicious.

“What everyone would do if they were given a gun in a situation like this...his weapon started winding up as the barrel rolled with increased velocity “You shoot it!”

The black cat pointed his weapon towards me as he urged me to get down: I did so, miraculously dodging a powerful...ink blast that was directed at me. When I looked backwards, I understood the cat wasn't aiming at me, but at a tentacle that was almost about to hit me from behind; as Karma started shooting more ink with his Minigun at the other tentacles dancing in the water, I decided it was time I did something useful as well: I aimed at the giant squid and pulled the trigger, repeatedly, as fast as I could; despite the ink projectiles kept hitting the squid right in his face, they weren't doing much damage, as I suspected. I wished I had some powerful weaponry like the two cats behind me.

“You know, this reminds me vaguely of “Splatoon”.” Felicity pointed out to her friends.

“Yeah, I know right?” Death jokingly admitted “Someone here really likes referencing video-games...”

“What can I say? If something can be done, it has to be done, right?” Karma defended himself, as if he were the defendant on trial.

“So, you're saying that terrorism...”

“Death, you know I didn't say it like that.” he cut the conversation short, much to the other cat's displease “Let's just focus on bringing this idiot down, shall we?”

As I kept shooting at the beast in front of me, I heard Felicity talking with Asriel, who wasn't partaking in the battle either “So, you're not going to help them?”

He thought about it for a second, then answered “No, I do not think so. They are already too powerful for that guy to handle, with me it would be overkill...” I thought I heard her tremble at the sound of the word “Overkill”. She quickly answered, shy “I don't want to fight either, but for a different reason: I don't like fighting, at all. I mean, I understand sometimes it's necessary but...”

“If you dislike fighting, then why are you permitting them to do so?” Asriel inquired, inquisitive.

“...Because I don't see any other way of...” she stopped mid-phrase, as if pondering something. “I have a plan!” she finally exclaimed, much to the other two cats' chagrin.

She positioned herself next to the edge and taunted the creature to attack her. She asked us not to shoot at it in the meantime, as it would've prevented it from getting close to her. I could only watch as the monster's appendage got closer to her and struck, fast as lightning...

“So close!” I heard Felicity chuckle, her voice echoing throughout the cavern: not only did she manage to dodge the attack at the last possible second, but she also...triggered something when she did. Time seemed to have stopped...it slowed considerably at least.

The cat, seemingly unfazed and untouched by this sudden change of atmosphere, jumped on the tentacle that was about to hit her a few instants prior and made her way through the pond, towards the octopus: she jumped from the appendage to the actual body of the creature, holding tightly on it's skin as if she was afraid of falling...which, now that I think about it, could've happened. Why did I instinctively think she knew what she was doing?

She jumped from the skin she was holding onto to the tentacle Temmie was being held in: she managed to smuggle the critter from the beast's arm without a problem and then, surprising and confusing me even more, she jumped all the way through the pond, her whole body was engulfed in...some sort of weird pink aura; I had discovered in a very short time that Felicity was both capable of slowing time and...well, use weird paranormal powers? I didn't know how she was doing that, but...it looked very cool indeed. I now found her much more rad and intriguing than Death himself, which is saying a lot.

Time resumed it's normal flow as she touched the ground: I heard Karma yell behind me “And now that that's done...tactical nuke, incoming!” he grabbed what looked like a bazooka out of...nowhere, and shot a missile at the creature, whose fearful expression said everything that needed to be said: the missile exploded right in that monster's face, painting the whole cavern around him and even his whole body with that weird, gooey multicolored substance...

“I just wanted to be friends!” the octopus shouted in a weird tone as it sank in the depths of the pond, never to be seen again...at least by us, I couldn't believe he was going to die from paint-gun shots.

“That was awesome!” Temmie screamed as she thanked Felicity for saving her: she hugged her tightly, an embrace the cat returned with joy “No problem, Temmie. No problem at all...”

The other two cats were about to say something when we all heard a voice all too familiar coming from the room's entrance “Are you there? Human?” apart from it's signature tone and volume, it was easy to recognize the bearer of that voice as Papyrus because he was asking me to show myself...ridiculous, what sort of bad guy was he supposed to be anyway?

I could've fled to the room's exit, it wasn't too far away...but I had Karma and the others with me, maybe I would've been fine simply by not doing anything and letting them handle the matter...

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's today's Strawpoll!  
> http://strawpoll.me/7299310
> 
> I hope you're liking this work so far, if you do leave a comment and tell me ~~how awesome I am~~ how shitty my fic is.  
>  Have a nice day, ciao!


	15. Waterfall: Nightmares

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a brief talk with Papyrus, we continued to explore Waterfall.  
> Then...well, weird stuff happened. I had never been so scared before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fuck! I have never, never been so lazy before!  
> Sometimes, I wish there was a way to force myself to write...fuck you Toby Fox, you and your "Determination"...  
> Anyway, I hope you like the chapter: there's lotsa spoilters in here.

_[ACT: Talk]_

 

In the end, I decided to meet Papyrus: what was I scared of anyway? If Undyne was with him, I could've just ran away like before...or so I hoped. If he tried to attack me by himself, I would've kicked his ass just like last time...he didn't seem like he wanted to battle though, judging from the tone of his voice. Maybe he simply wanted to talk, but I couldn't imagine a good reason to do so.

I turned towards the cats but they disappeared in a flash, leaving me, Asriel and Temmie alone in the room; at least, we were alone for a short while: the skeleton ran inside the room at full speed, stopping right before me. I inspected him from head to feet: he was trying to look serious and imposing, but he only managed to look scared. He wasn't a good liar, that was for sure.

“Human...we meet again.” he greeted me, expressionless.

I didn't say anything, but I let him continue “Look, it might sound a little strange but...I didn't want to tell Undyne about you.” I was about to ask him how could I believe such nonsense but he didn't let me “Sans proposed me to backstab you, to take advantage of your mercy and reclaim my honor...but, while searching for you here in Waterfall, I finally understood that my honor was already lost...”

“Indeed.” Asriel managed to interrupt him “I bet losing against a human made you real sad, didn't it?” he pronounced that taunt like he were speaking to a baby, which altered Papyrus slightly...but he tried to keep his cool and ignore the goat “Besides, working for Undyne is a real pain. She treats me like one of the other dog-monsters, unforgivable...” I looked towards Asriel, who was silently chuckling.

“So, I won't attack you anymore. Even if I do manage to defeat you, Undyne would get the honors...and that would be even more shameful for me! But, perhaps we can reach an accord...” what was he aiming towards, I wondered.

“If you defeat Undyne, Lord Asgore will stop trusting her as his right-hand man...then I, The Great Papryus, will become the Royal Guard's Captain! With my honor back, I will finally be able to fight you properly...and ultimately defeat you!” he laughed maniacally and then looked at me proudly “So, what do you think? Do we have a deal?”

I turned towards Asriel once more: his face said everything “Kill him, now!” that was the message he was implying. However, I couldn't bring myself to do it. I spared the skeleton once, how bad would it have been if I spared him twice? I had to stay coherent with myself, for fuck's sake.

“Fine, we have a deal.” I turned towards the skeleton, who was beaming with joy “But if you try anything funny, I'm going to murder you...okay?” he nodded seriously and then turned around “Well then, I'll resume my normal patrol, I hope we don't have to see each other again...for now, at least. Nyeh heh heh!” he sprinted out of the room faster than a rocket.

 

“Why did you have to do it?” Asriel asked me annoyed “You do not even get benefits from helping him! All you are doing is putting us in an even shittier situation!”

“So far so good, right? As long as we're still alive, it doesn't matter.” I answered, annoyed as well. Temmie was unsure of who to support, so she stayed silent. After a while, Asriel stopped conversing as well “If we are going to die, know that I will make your afterlife a living Hell.”  
“How are you going to make Hell even...more Hell?” I cocked a brow as I asked.

“You do not want to know...” he responded mysteriously. Yeah, like that was going to scare me.

I finally noticed the ceiling was dripping water, it felt like it was raining...inside the cavern. It didn't made sense, but I didn't ponder on it too much: nothing about that weird place could surprise me anymore, after all. I spotted a trash can full of umbrellas and grabbed one for myself and for Asriel: it was big, but it was also disgustingly...pink. I didn't want to protect myself with that piece of crap, but it was the only...usable umbrella so I had to use it anyway. Asriel reluctantly held the umbrellas for us three, shielding us from the rain.

“What a gentlemen...” I sighed, smiling.

“Thank you, madame.” he jokingly bowed but kept the umbrella over our heads, careful not to drop it.

That's when I noticed a figure hiding in a corner of the room: from the looks of it, it was that lizard kid from before. He was hiding in a spot where the water wasn't falling down, he didn't have an umbrella with himself...I facepalmed when I finally remembered he didn't have any hands to hold it.

Asriel begged me not to approach him, but I did so nonetheless “Hey, idiot.”

He turned towards me, a bit surprised “Why are YOU here?” he realized something, and grinned sadistically “Oh, are you here to make fun of me? Go ahead then, laugh! Laugh at my misery!”

“Dude, what the fuck? I was going to ask you if you wanted to come with us...we do have an umbrella, after all...” perhaps the monster was right, the way I concluded that phrase wasn't to my liking at all.

“Pff, coming with you? Letting you help me? Not in a million years!” he angrily answered.

“Oh well.” I turned around and returned to where Asriel was standing “Got better things to do anyway.”

“Wait.” he stopped me, but didn't say anything. He ran under our umbrella without saying a word, he didn't even thank me. I understood him, he was too embarrassed to even think; even though that was very rude of him, I let him come with us.

We traveled for a while but no-one said anything until we arrived to an obstacle too high for him to jump. I was confident, however, that I could have done it; if I could, then Asriel would have been able as well and Temmie...well, we would have brought her with us anwyay. However, I doubted the monster would've been able to surpass it, he was too small and frail

“Hey...” the monster urged me to listen to him “When you meet Undyne, next time..fight her.”

“Oh, sure...do you think you're my boss or something?” I inquired ironic.

“...You will defeat her, and I...I will kill her. Soon, the news will spread and I will become the next Royal Guard's Captain! Then, everyone will respect me! No-one will dare mocking me ever again!” he ignored me and kept on ranting.

I stopped him and explained him why that was a very bad idea “Not even counting how...degrading stealing a kill is by itself, nobody will believe you managed to defeat Undyne by yourself...the King will test you, and you will fail...”

“And believe me, the King does not like being fooled at all...” Asriel shook his index finger at the boy who was boiling with rage and...fear “But...but...”

“I'm sorry, kid...but weaklings like you aren't destined to be strong. A weak can't take on the role of a strong, just like a strong can't take on the role of a weak. The world is unfair, of that I'm sure...but I'm no-one to change it. Nobody can change the world.” I jumped up the ledge with ease, followed by Asriel. I turned to face the monster, but it was already running at full speed towards where we came from, crying. I was sorry for the little guy, but I had to forget about him. An ominous feeling filled the air, making me shiver in my clothes.

The next corridor was the darkest room I had ever explored: the definition “I couldn't see shit” couldn't even begin to describe how impossible that room was to navigate through. I immediately grabbed Asriel's hand, the last thing I wanted was to lose him in that crappy place.

“Stay close to me.” he asked me as he lit a flame in his palm: the fire's light wasn't powerful enough to let us see too further away, but it did let us see what we were walking on: a dark, wooden bridge.

Now I knew why I was so afraid of that room.

“Run!” I ordered: blue spears came flying at us from all directions just like in the previous instance; we struggled to dodge them, the enemy had learned our technique and was now aiming much more carefully. Temmie was shielding us to the best of her abilities but even she was having problems. We ran for what looked like an eternity: we couldn't know where we were running towards, but we ran nonetheless. Our own survival instinct brought us there...

I urged Asriel to stop: I discovered at the last possible minute we were running towards a dead end, an abyss; he managed to stop just before falling off the edge. Another ravine, high as a mountain...and no way around it either.

“Maybe we can-” I turned around only to see her, Undyne, looking at us from her shiny black armor...I couldn't see her face behind that scary-looking helmet, but I knew she was smiling under it. She was rejoicing, she knew what would've happened next. I knew it too.

“We have to jump! Yolo!” I yelled as I let myself fall into the pit, bringing Asriel down with me: he and Temmie started screaming as they both grabbed onto me as we fell. I prayed we weren't going to fall into a spike trap...or a lava trap...or even just flat normal ground...thinking about it, that wasn't a bright idea at all.

 

“ _Well, partner...it seems as though we reached the end...” They said in their usual, calm tone. I, however, was not calm in the slightest “The more you kill, the easier it is to distance yourself...” that's what they said. Idiocies, from the first to the last. I could feel perfectly well all the lives, all the lives I had destroyed. Their pain had become mine._

“ _Now that we're done here...let's destroy this world, and move on to the next one!” they shouted, making me much more nervous._

“ _What? This wasn't in the contract? My girl...you truly are an idiot. Do you consider me responsible for your degenerate, insensible killing madness? You let me do this, it was all your fault...oh? You want to return...home? I don't think so...there is no home for you, remember? You're stuck here...with me. Forever.”_

_I couldn't feel myself anymore, nor my body. The only things left of me were my consciousness...and my Soul. And they wanted one of them “You want to RESET, don't you? Once more, I'm tremendously sorry...but I won't let you. Your Soul belongs to me, now...well, not yet. But it will be soon...”_

_They laughed maniacally, as black blood poured out of their eyes “There's nothing left for us here. You chose our own path, and we will follow it, whether you like it or not...this is only one of many worlds...soon, we will be everywhere...” they disappeared, leaving me alone in my insanity._

 

“ _I'm back!” They ironically introduced themselves “What? You're still not giving up?” they laughed, but I didn't care “Don't worry, dear: you will. I can wait, you know. I got all the time in the world, after all...”_

_They circled around me, walking slowly as they kept repeating "All the time..."_

 

“ _Still holding on, huh?” I desperately tried to ignore them, but I was on the verge of giving in to the madness “Look, I'm getting tired of this. Give me your Soul, or else...” they were interrupted by a light coming from somewhere around us, it was difficult to understand from where exactly though._

“ _What is this...a RESET? No, there's no way...” they turned towards me “I've sealed your powers! You're nothing without me! But then...how...” they seemed to have realized something “Another world...the universe is being destroyed! And we...I...”_

_They grabbed what was left of my Soul and tried to snatch it away from me “I won't be deleted! Give me your Soul, you idiotic swine!” I didn't let them take it, but they managed to touch it, and that was sufficient to them “I won't be deleted! I won't be deleted!”_

_I cried as they left me, the light was glowing brighter and brighter. I was going to die, right there._

_No. I wasn't. That...fucking kid wasn't going to play that stupid trick on me._

_I fell...I fell...I fell..._

“ _Charaaaaaaaaa!”_

 

 

“You owe me one. I will see you soon...”

 

 

I woke up sweating. How long had I been sleeping for? I got up and scouted my surroundings: cartons, plastic bags, random items that were so broken they were unrecognizable...a junkyard of some sort. My mind was still stuck on that dream...that voice that kept taunting me, that dreadful face that kept distorting as it spoke...Chara...no, that...thing wasn't them. They weren't like that, at all.

And yet...that felt too real to be a dream. I was beginning to forget the last words I heard, that clearly weren't theirs: “I will see you soon...you owe me one...” whose were they? Why did I owe them something? What did I owe them? So many questions...my mind was about to explode.

I tried to focus on the situation at hand: we had fallen down that ravine a few...Asriel! Temmie!

I spotted Asriel on the ground a few feet away: I ran up to him and tried to wake him up “Come on, you fucker! Don't die on me, or I will kill you!” I checked his breathing: it was a bit forced, but it was still there. He was alive, thankfully.

“Come on, Frisk: if I were dead, I would have become dust by now...” he coughed as he got up, scaring me to death. I slapped him and ordered him never to do that to me again.

“Since when were you the leader?” he asked ironic as he yawned and looked around the room “The garbage dump...how ironic...” he got up and kept on scouting the area “I had a feeling we would have arrived here...everything arrives here, sooner or later...”  
“Since when were you the philosopher? “ I asked him in return.

“Touché.” he replied in return “Where's Temmie?”

I couldn't feel her above me, and she wasn't anywhere nearby either. We looked everywhere for her, to no avail. She was gone. For a second, I thought she had died...but Asriel quickly reminded me that, since there wasn't any dust on the ground, no monsters had died there recently...maybe she had gone further in without us? No, she would've never done that...unless...she mentioned being afraid of someone here in Waterfall, of having escaped from them...I shared my theories with the goat.

“We must find her at once then!” he urged me to continue “If we do not, then it may already be too late...”

We ventured through the junkyard, but we didn't find the critter anywhere: at least we weren't finding any dust...that gave us the determination to keep on looking. After a while, we reached what looked like the exit: a small entrance leading to who knows where; only a dozen feet distanced ourselves from that exit.

“Does this mean she-”

“There were no deviations, Frisk. She must have went beyond this area...we must follow suit.” he said as he walked towards our objective. Another feeling of dread assaulted me and I already knew what was it caused by “Stay sharp!”

My warning worked and Asriel managed to dodge a knife incoming from his right just before it hit him: the weapon cut his robe but didn't hit him, much to my and his relief. What seemed like a harmless dummy, just like the one I saw in the Ruins, revealed itself to be another monster, much scarier than any I had seen before: the dummy had a huge mouth that divided it's body in half, with sharp, edgy teeth that looked like they could've killed me just by grazing me.

More knives arrived from him, but we managed to dodge them easily; Asriel summoned some dark flames to try burn him down, but...the dummy deflected them, it didn't catch fire. My companion wasn't annoyed anymore, he was angry. Totally angry. He kept on shooting fireballs at our opponent in vain, making the monster laugh in return: despite being somewhat spooky, it was nothing compared to the one I heard in my dream.

With no better plan in mind, I jumped towards the dummy and used my “Spinning Bird Kick” against him: the hits connected, but they weren't very effective. I barely managed to strafe backwards and avoid another round of his deadly knives.

“How can we beat this thing?” I asked, worried.

“I...I do not know!” Asriel responded preoccupied “Either we figure out a way to destroy him...or we will have to retreat!” upon hearing these words, the dummy flew from it's original position to right in front of the exit, blocking the passage.

-Motherfucker!- I cursed at him in my mind, unsure of what to do: how could we beat something that was unbeatable? I managed to beat that ghost, Napstablook, and even he looked tremendously overpowered...maybe I had to hit him with lightning once more?

“The heck are ya doin', ya piece 'o shit?” a grumpy voice yelled from behind the dummy: as soon as the monster turned around it got hit by a barrage of small missiles, sending him flying all the way across the room. The ghost hit the wall a few feet behind us and ran away, scared to death.

We turned once more and saw our “savior”: a turtle-like monster, holding a hammer twice as big as him with...what looked like holes dug into it. I presumed that's where the missiles were shot from...a strange weapon indeed. The monster itself didn't look too good, it seemed somewhat strong but he was also very old: white hair, puckers everywhere...he definitely saw better days.

“Who 're you?” he asked, annoyed.

“Unfortunate passersby, that's who we are...” Asriel answered, unsure of how to proceed “We were searching for a friend of ours, a little monster called Temmie...”

The monster mumbled something before answering “Oh, a Temmie y'say?” he caressed his chin, trying to remember something “Yeah, I saw a few Temmies runnin' towards their base a few minutes ago...they had one o' their kind with 'em who didn't look too happy as well...”

Me and Asriel looked at each other puzzled: Temmies? Base? What had Temmie been hiding from us this entire time?

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's today's Strawpoll!  
> http://strawpoll.me/7328448
> 
> Yep, that's Gerson right there. I took inspiration from Dreemurr Reborn's comic arc "The King"'s Gerson if you're wondering.  
> ...Any theories, anyone? I bet a lot of you guys already figured the whole story out, didn't you?


	16. Waterfall: Upgrade!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> To save Temmie, I had to power up a bit...nothing, however, could've prepared me for what was I about to face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, I'm two days late! Yay! =3  
> School is killing me. I got so many things to do, so little time to do them...moreover, I'm lazy as fuck. Do the math by yourselves.  
> I promise I'll keep delivering at least two chapters every week, but school is getting tougher and the productivity will decrease until school ends...around the end of May.  
> Now that you're done reading me ranting about my problems, let's all enjoy reading someone else's!

_[ACT: Save Temmie]_

 

I didn't care whether Temmie had lied to us or not: what mattered was that she was in danger, I could feel it, and she needed to be helped. We would've sorted things out once she was out of trouble, there would've been time for that.

I ran towards the exit ignoring the old man standing right in front of it...he blocked me with his weapon “Hold on, sonny: where da ya think yer goin'?” he knew perfectly where I was going, I could intend it from the tone of his voice.

“I'm going to save my friend, that's where I'm going.” I told him straight-forwardly.

“Ya sure buddy?” his face was covered in disbelief “Honestly, ya have no chance. I saw ye fight against that dummy: ye got tha power, but ye ain't usin' it right.”

“What?” it was difficult to understand his grumpy slang, but I could make out what he was trying to say.

“Ye know, for the right price...I can craft a weapon for ye. Something fitting a warrior of yer caliber...” he caressed his white beard while looking at me in my entirety “Yeah, something new, unexpected...pricey...”

“You fucking...” I stepped away from him “You just want to steal some money from me, don't you?”

“I am fine with that.” Asriel arrived from behind and forcibly shut my mouth with his right paw; he spoke with the old turtle in my place “We would be delighted if you could help her out a bit, she needs some new tricks up her sleeve...”

“Her sleeve? Ha! After I'm done with her, her sleeves'll be the last things her opponents'll be afraid of...” he kept on mumbling and moved out of the way “Follow me, sonnies!” I expected him to walk slowly, but he walked just as fast as me and Asriel.

“Are you sure it's a good idea?” I asked Asriel, unsure.

“Yeah, I am almost sure of it. We will be facing tougher opponents, Frisk: it's not about experimenting anymore, it's about surviving. Having you spare all the fucking monsters we meet is not helping our situation either...” yeah, I already heard that part a million times.

As we were walking behind the old monster, he pointed to a small village in the distance “That's Waterfall Village, in case ye folks were wonderin'.” the houses looked just as horrible as the huts we saw in Snowdin Village: I wondered how could anyone live there.

“Are you also a touring guide?” Asriel asked, ironic “I thought you were a smithy.”

“Nah, I'm just showing tha human the local attractions...” me and Asriel stopped walking and widened our eyes. The monster turned around as he burst in laughter “Come on, do ye think I'm so old I wouldn't recognize a human?”

“How...”

“News spread fast around here, girl...” the monster explained more seriously “Frankly, I'm surprised ye're not dead yet.” he turned around and resumed walking “But money opens all doors down here...loadsamoney to be precise.”

Before the village exited from our view, I saw Asriel looking grimly at it. He seemed to be thinking about something regarding it. I wondered what was he thinking, whatever it was it wasn't very happy.

The monster made us enter an opening in the wall: it was more like a crack, to be precise, and you could've missed it if you didn't pay enough attention. The inside, however, was much bigger than I anticipated: piles of weapons of all sorts were displaced all around the room, while in the center of it a big rusty anvil sat in the middle of all that junk.

The monster went behind the anvil and gathered a few materials from the garbage all around him: he was pondering about something as he combined the materials in other, bigger and stronger ones by smashing them with his weird battle hammer.

“So many weapons...” Asriel commented aloud “...Which one should we buy?”

“The one I'm making right now sonny.” the turtle monster yelled, the banging noise coming from the anvil was making hearing anything impossible “I ain't perfect: we all make mistakes. Like those weapons. I'm making ye something real good here, so be patient.”

I quietly sat on the ground and waited patiently for the man to finish his work...well, impatiently is a more correct adjective: I wanted to save Temmie so desperately...but before that, I had to git gud. Asriel joined me soon afterwards and we started talking about random things: we were becoming closer and closer as time went by...but he still treated me like a pet, and I was still bent on escaping that hellhole.

“All done!” the monster announced after around five minutes of non-stop working “My finest work so far, I just know ye'll like it!”

When the monster spoke about a weapon, I imagined a sword, a lance...like all those old arms that were laying around the room: what I got instead was something I would've never expected...and I liked them more and more as instants passed.

Not one, not two, but four red guns were laying in front of me: they looked like traditional pistols, but something about their odd design made me believe there was something more to that. Two of the guns had a smaller grip and didn't have a trigger, but I never assumed they were broken or anything like that. They were specifically designed to be like that, and I knew perfectly what they were for.

“These beauties are my masterpiece! You carry these two like-” he couldn't finish the sentence as I threw the guns in the air and jumped as high as I could.

I kicked the two odd-looking guns but not really, I wanted to make them slide on my leg: the weapons arrived as high on my talon then fixed, they fit like a glove. I grabbed the other two weapons with my hands and landed gracefully on the ground, trying to look as imposing and badass as possible “Oh, yeah...it's time to be bad, boys!”

Asriel stared at me in amazement, he didn't expect me to rock those pistols so well...until I realized he was staring at my butt as I was posing; I slapped him to make him regain his senses and he finally articulated “Goddamn, that's hot...”

I slapped him again and again while yelling “You fucking pervert!” until he finally grabbed my arm and warned me “That's enough, thank you.”

The old monster couldn't stop laughing at us, he was dying over there “I never thought I woulda seen tha day the Prince woulda been slapped by a human...life's still so full 'o surprises...”

 

The old monster gave us the directions to the place our friend had been taken to: yet another cave, hidden in a peculiar room that was difficult to navigate through because you had to highlight the path using mushrooms...I wondered whether that particular room was “natural” or if it was artificial: if it indeed was artificial, I needed a few words with the guy who made it. Because he needed to stop. Seriously.

We arrived to the cavern and looked at it, preoccupied “It's even darker than this room...” I noticed.

“As always, stay close to me.” Asriel ordered as he lit a flame in his hand “The last thing we need is to be ambushed yet again...”

We walked for a minute or so, quietly. Neither of us dared to say a word. We looked frantically in all directions, searching for our lost friend. In the end, we saw her: Temmie was tied to a wooden chair, her lips had been sealed with adhesive tape. Her whmpers of distress were enough to make us run as fast as we could towards her, but before we could reach her I got hit by something in the back and blacked out.

 

I finally opened my eyes: I was tied to something, my arms and legs were stuck, and I didn't have my guns on me anymore; Asriel seemed to be in the same exact situation and he didn't look too pleased with it. All around us, at least a hundred monsters observed us intently: they all looked like carbon copies of Temmie, except they wore formal clothing and didn't look too happy at all. They were emotionless, they almost made me sad.

One of those monsters stepped forward: it looked just like the others, but it wore a monocle on it's left eye. The monster greeted us “Greetings, Asriel the Ex-Prince and human. I am Temmie, daughter of Temmie, daughter of Temmie, daughter of Temmie-”

“Can you shut up please?” I interrupted her, annoyed.

“Let me finish, you insolent swine! As I was saying...daughter of Temmie, daughter of Temmie, daughter of Bob, daughter of Temmie...and from that point on I can't remember...”

“Let me guess, “daughter of Temmie”?” I sarcastically suggested.

“Yes, now I remember! Daughter of Temmie, daughter of Temmie, daughter of Temmie. That's it.” I sighed, thankful the singsong was over.

“Now, it seems you finally fell into my trap! I have captured my daughter, and now I finally captured you as well!” the monster erupted in an evil laugh that was probably copied from a low-quality superhero film.

“Your daughter?” I asked, confused.

“Wait a minute: if you wanted to capture us as well, why didn't you do so when you caught Temmie? We would have been just as defenseless as her...” Asriel observed.

The critter was about to say something, but she stopped before even starting and admitted “Thinking about it, that was not the best plan I had ever conceived.”

“It's not like you conceived better plans, mom!” I looked towards where that voice came from: Temmie was a few feet away from me, blocked by two other monsters who completely restrained her movement. Near her stood yet another Temmie that had...my weapons with her! I had to take them back...but how, I wondered?

“Be quiet, you traitorous scum!” the monocle-wearing monster yelled.

“Hey, don't talk like that with my friend!” I shouted in return.

“Do you even know what did this girl do?” the monster inquired me.

-No, but I would love to- I thought.

“She was supposed to be the heir of my dynasty...” the monster walked closer to her...daughter “...But a week ago, she declared she didn't want to have anything to do with me! With us!” the other Temmies started yelling, shouting and cursing; the monster snapped her fingers and silence returned in an instant “As I was saying, that in itself is unforgivable! You belong to the most powerful mafia in the Underground, you imbecile, why would you ever want out? But even though I tried to keep her in, she left without a trace...and now, after so much time, the opportunity for revenge presents itself!”

“Are you sure a week can be considered a lot of time?” Asriel asked, ironic “Anyway, what do you plan to do with us now?”

The critter smirked as she explained her plan “First, I shall execute this little traitor, then I will deliver you two to King Asgore...and receive a large, monumental amount of munz- I mean, money. Money...” what did she just say? I looked at Temmie, who looked more serious than ever: she was looking into my eyes, an expression that said everything: I have a plan.

She turned her gaze towards her “mother” and pointed out “You may execute me but you'll never find a worthy successor because...” she turned around and tried to face all the other Temmies at once “...We all know I'm the only one who's got a degree here.” the other monsters turned to face one another and nodded in approval. It was good to see that the enemy knew how bad they were...sort of. That situation would've been much scarier if it weren't so surreal.

“Whatever, let us commence the execution!” the evil Temmie announced “Any last words, Temmie?”

“Just three.” our friend smirked as she reverted to a cheerful expression “Hoi, I'm Temmie!”

All the other temmies raised their hands in the air and waved as they answered “Hoi, I'm Temmie!” well, except the monocle-wearing one who just said “Fuck.”

Temmie, the good one I mean, managed to break free from her captors and jumped high in the air, getting right above her mother. She grabbed something from her pocket and launched it at high speed towards the ground: I could see it was a simple golden coin, with the picture of a smiling Temmie on one side and the other one...it touched the ground before I could see it.

When the coin touched the ground, I felt the ground all around me vibrate: coins ermerged from the ground and flew in the air, creating what could only be described as an inverse-tornado: the Temmie flew upwards with the coins, just as me and Asriel did. I immediately spotted my weapons flying a few feet away from me so I used a nearby Temmie as a trampoline (hoping it wasn't the only friendly one in the entire room) and managed to slid the weird ones in my legs as before; however, my arms where still trapped...I needed someone else to free me. I grabbed the two normal pistols with my arms as best as I could and looked for Asriel, who was flying without control of himself a dozen feet away.

The gravity inside that hurricane was weird, it was almost certainly near zero, so I found getting near Asriel much more difficult than it would've been otherwise. After getting enough close I warned him that...well, that could've hurt. I kicked the ropes that were around his arms and hands and shotgun shells exploded on them, instantly breaking them; however, the shells hit Asriel slightly as well, making him hiss like a viper “That hurts a little bit...”

“A little bit?” I asked, surprised.

“You're handling magic-based weapons, so of course they will inflict minor damage to monsters...” the goat explained, forgetting about our current situation; when he finally remembered our lives were still in peril, he used his newly-freed claws to tear my own ropes apart and setting me completely free.

We then looked for our Temmie, which we presumed was the one who was screaming “Guys!” and that didn't seem in control of her flight at all...also, she had the right clothing. Asriel grabbed me by the waist and used his flames to propel us in the air and closer to our friend, who we picked up on the fly.

“We need to get out of here, now!” she yelled as she returned to her usual spot above my head and grabbed my hair as tightly as she could.

“No need to ask twice.” the prince assured as he projected us three out of the hurricane and into a more...adequate gravity.

We didn't even have time to catch our breath as we heard Temmie's mother yell “Kill those...motherfuckers!” she seemed to have escaped the tornado as well, and was now charging at us with a bunch of other employees...daughters...whatever they were, I don't really care.

Asriel ran towards the exit as fast as he could, still holding me by the waist; when I protested, he simply shouted “Why do you think I'm doing this? Shoot them!”

I couldn't use my leg-guns (cool name, don't you think? I invented it myself!) so I tried using my normal pistols: to my surprise, those weren't normal pistols either, they were the semi-automatic ones. Instead of one, around five bullets per blast were shot, taking care of the pursuing critters fairly easily: I always aimed for the chest, even though aiming for the head would've been easier since they were so freaking big...the reason for that, well...I didn't want to kill them, that was it. Even though they were evil and all, they were still living creatures, and I couldn't bring myself to end their existance.

Temmie herself joined the battle when she stood upright over my head and made a Chicago Thompson appear out of nowhere “Eat shit, bitches!” instead of shooting bullets, however, her weapon shot golden coins. Enough big to cause a severe bump on your head, which was what was happening to those little monsters.

Not long after that, we finally got out of that cave and Temmie used another one of her “coins” to create a massive coin-made wall to block the entrance to their lair “That should be it...they won't get out of there for half-a-day at least.” she sighed as she de-summoned her weapon.

Me and Asriel looked at her in awe: we never saw that side of her. We always thought she was a cute, resourceful little critter...before she turned out to be a freaking mobster. Well, a renegade to be precise. She didn't look evil at all, in fact she was apologizing left and right “It's all my fault...I should've never brought you here...I'm such a failure...” she kept going on and on and on...I felt like I needed to do something.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's today's Strawpoll!  
> http://strawpoll.me/7373325
> 
> I just love writing AUs. So much fucking shit can be done with them...  
> Also, I love Temmies. I just love them. I will need to do a better job with the Temmie village part on Not all heroes are born good when I finally get there. =3


	17. Undyne

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After dealing with some minor nuisances, I finally faced the knight who stalked me for all of Waterfall...Undyne.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What an odd time to post a chapter, isn't it?  
> Sorry if I've been absent here for a week, but school is killing me and, overall, I've got a few other stories to care about.  
> I will try to upload as constantly as I've been up until now, but please keep in mind the next one is my last month of school and that can only mean bad things.  
> Without further ado, let's jump right in!

_[ACT: Console]_

 

As the small monster kept sobbing and mumbling incomprehensible things, I approached her, lifted her and hugged her, pressing her tightly against my chest. She seemed to calm down a bit, but she was still somewhat sad.

“Look, I still don't understand fully what happened there, but...don't worry, we don't care. You're our friend, and we trust you...we don't care about who you were, we care about who you are here, now...” I turned towards Asriel: it looked like he was about to say another one of his bad, dirty jokes...but he didn't. He returned to a calmer expression and didn't say anything.

“I've been one of them for decades now...” she escaped from my grip and walked a few steps towards the blocked entrance “...They're the biggest mafia in the Underground, you know? They pretend to be a corporation producing electronic devices...while, in reality, they do all sorts of dirty stuff. I saw...things happen. Too much for me: I fled, I didn't want to have anything to do with them anymore. I was one of Mom's best girls, I made the wheels turn...I expected her to not take it well, but...trying to kill me...”

“Good thing you will not have to deal with that harpy ever again.” Asriel finally decided to enter the conversation, even though I was scared he was about to say something...stupid, or uncalled for “You do not have to return to her. That bitch does not deserve to have such an intelligent little thing at her disposal. If you wish, you can come with me and Frisk once we return to the Ruins...” did I hear that right? Asriel was being...actually good for once!

“Really?” Temmie looked excited, but immediately declined “No, I can't accept. If I did, I would never achieve my dream...”

“Which is?” I asked, curious.

“Creating a successful corporation. The biggest corporation in the Underground! And I won't resort to illegal acts to achieve my dream!” she was very determined to get it her way. I was...happy for her.

“Well, my offer is still valid...” Asriel started walking towards where we needed to go “...In case you realize how rotten this world is...”

 

“So, you payed that guy to get those neat guns?” Temmie asked me as we started traversing a long bridge suspended above yet another abyss.

“Yeah, aren't they cool?” I boasted “With these girls, I won't have any trouble dealing with that Undyne...”  
“I doubt it.” Asriel calmly replied “I noticed those weapons shoot magic-made bullets: even though magic is extremely powerful against humans like you, I doubt they will have the same effect on other monsters, which are made of the substance.”

“W-What?” I couldn't believe what I just heard.  
“If we do fight that Undyne, do not expect much from them. Unless you use them properly...” he mumbled something inaudible, then explained “Yes, if you combine those weapons' firepower with your fighting style, you may have...unpredictable results. We will see...” my excitement waned a bit, but it was still big: I still had a chance to show that knight who's boss...

“Stop right there!” a voice called from behind me: I would've probably been scared...if I didn't know already who it was: that little lizard kid, eyeing me from a distance.

“Whatever, let's just ignore him...” Asriel suggested.

“Ignore me? That's it, you're dead!” the monster charged at me at a decent speed...too bad I grabbed him by the head before he could hit me with it “L-Let me go, you little shit! I will kill you, I will...” he kept repeating as he tried to kick me with his dangling heads...emphasis on “tried”.

I tossed him backwards, but he didn't give up: he once again charged at me, and this time I let him hit me. It felt like I had just been hit by a soft pillow: how embarrassing for a guy who wanted to kill me. Not even his bites did a whole lot: they didn't even pierce through my clothing!

“Are you done?” I asked, annoyed “I've got important stuff to do, I don't have time to play with a little twerp...”

The monster backed off of his own, slowly and unsteadily: he looked like he was about to cry, as he looked at me from below “W-Why? Why am I so...weak? I am trying...real hard to hate you, but...I can't...”

“You can't...hate me?” I inquired, puzzled.

“Monsters' magic is influenced by their emotions.” Temmie explained from atop my head “Anger, hate, frustration...everything makes magic stronger...or weaker, in his case.”

“For some reason, I...I can't hate you...” the lizard fell to his knees “Despite how bad I treated you...you tolerated me. You didn't try to hurt me, and you even...showed kindness to me...I thought killing you would've made me strong enough to beat Undyne or the skeletons, but...it seems I'm so weak I can't even do that...”

“Thanks a lot, dick.” I chuckled at the little guy's small indirect offense “Look, as I said before, you're not powerful enough, and that's a fact. So, work around it! There must be things down here that people like you can do...” I turned towards Asriel, unsure “...Right?”

“No...” the lizard wiped his tears the best he could by using his knees “...Society outside New Home is...almost gone. If I lived there, maybe...but Lord Asgore decided that nobody could enter it, so I'm stuck in one of the outer cities, ruled with the iron fist by those royal pricks...” he turned around and started walking away “I...I heard you're the prince...mister Asriel?” the sudden change of character made the goat flinch for a second, but he almost immediately answered inexpressive “Yes, I am.”

“Then please, do me a favor...do a favor to everyone...and do something about us. Please...” he ran all the way through the bridge and disappeared in the darkness of the cavern.

“What am I supposed to do again?” Asriel was confused “Does he really expect me to...help him? What an idiot...I am...no-one to help him...no-one at all...” he refused to listen to whatever I had to say, so I decided to stay quiet and let him ponder in peace as we managed to cross the ravine.

 

We soon arrived to a mostly empty area, the only few things laying around where boulders of different shapes and sizes; what looked like a small mountain stood in front of us, around two-hundred feet away or so, it looked like we had to proceed through a small entrance at it's base in order to proceed. The mountain itself looked like it was made of rocky thorns, as sharp as only a blade could be. An ominous feeling filled the air, entered my lungs, penetrated my skin and my heart...I feared. That could only mean one thing.

“It's been a while, hasn't it?” from atop the mountain, a shadowy figure eyed at me with her yellow orb. A knight, clad in ebony and that looked even spikier than the mountain she was standing on. Undyne.

“Are you done with your stupid ambushes? Come down here and fight me, you bitch!” I shouted, irritated.

“I thought you had died when you fell in the precipice...” her gaze became even sharper “...Too bad: now I will have to kill you...painfully.” she jumped off the mountain and landed a dozen feet away from me: suddenly, she grabbed her helmet and threw it away, revealing her true face. Her face looked like a fish's her skin was as blue as the ocean, her right eye was yellow...and the other one was covered by a patch, like a pirate's. She had long, red hair that arrived to her elbows, and very, very sharp teeth. Her eyes were covered in mascara, while the lips were full of black lipstick. She looked so disgusting she was actually pretty, in her own way.

“You're saying that you were trying to kill us cowardly to avoid killing us honorably? Are you a knight or a rogue, miss talking sashimi?” I asked as I leered at her ironic...and evil.

“How I operate is not your problem...punk!” she tried to insult me, but that curse wouldn't have scared even Temmie “The King has ordered me to execute you...which is exactly what I'm gonna do!”

“And you are going to execute your orders like the little puppy you are...” Asriel made fun of her, grinning as he usually did “...Am I not correct, Undyne?”  
The Royal Guard didn't respond: instead, she looked at him intensely, grinning insanely “You know, the King didn't order me to kill the human...he ordered me to kill YOU!”

The monster flinched, but he didn't falter “Of course, I expected him to-”

“But I wasn't sure if I could do it, you know? Killing the prince is a big deal...so I asked what to do to the Queen...” her grin was now even bigger than her face, if that could've been possible “...And she gave me full approval!”

I looked at the goat: he was stunned, his eyes were wide open and his jaw was hanging as well “W-What? M-Mother...I...”

“They hate, you, you know?” the fish wasn't quite done with him “Both of them. You are a failure, that's what they think. You only deserve death, after you betrayed us all...”

“N-No...” the goat fell to his knees as tears formed in his eyes “...Mom, why...why you? Why...why...” he hugged himself as tightly as he could, trying to keep his composure...but he couldn't, he was drowning in a sea of sorrow and that bitch was riding a boat right above him, uncaring of the storm she was unleashing “You are nothing more than a little-”

“Shut the fuck up!” I yelled at her “I don't give a shit about what you have to say! I came here to fight, so stop talking and fight me goddammit!”

At first it felt like the cat got her tongue, but she quickly answered “Bring it then, punk! I'll be more than happy to absorb your Soul! And then, I will be able to do what that idiot never did!” she was still referring to Asriel, which made me even madder.

“It's time to be bad!” I yelled as I grabbed my pistols and pointed them at the fish.

“Oh, yes!” a voice at my right shouted: I turned only to see the cats preparing something over a big boulder, which was double my height “I've been waiting for this fight for a long time!” Karma was very excited “I was a bit disappointed when you almost skipped the chance to get those weapons...but good things happen nonetheless, am I right?” he asked to his companions.

“You just shifted things so that she would've obtained them anyway.” Felicity commented “Isn't it a bit like...cheating?”

“If it is, then I'm totally okay with it.” Death answered for him “The more deadly she is, the more entertaining this whole thing is for us.”

“Well said!” two big pianos appeared next to Karma and Felicity; both of them sat right in front of them and prepared themselves “And what better way to celebrate those new guns than sing this song!”

“Once I'm done with her, I will move on to you!” Undyne yelled as she injected some kind of red substance into her, the same I saw Papyrus try to use, just as the music started “You awoke me, unleashed the fire in my heart...” Felicity's voice filled the air joyfully, giving me the strength to fight back.

I charged at the monster as she summoned blue spears to attack me with: the attack dodged me completely, as I now knew that the lances didn't deviate their trajectory once shot. I managed to kick her right in the chest, which triggered the shotgun attached to my feet: despite how powerful the hit was, she didn't feel anything and managed to shove me away simply by punching me. I was shocked, that armor was strong for sure but...I at least imagined to deal some damage to her.

“Let me show you how a real warrior fights!” she yelled as more spears were shot at me from all directions: as I masterfully avoided them all, I tried to shoot her from the distance with my machine-pistols, to no avail. Even when the bullets miraculously landed on her head, it didn't seem to cause any damage at all...

-What kind of bullshit is this?- I pondered as I charged at the woman once more: I jumped a few feet away from her and kicked the air a dozen of times at lightning speed, unleashing a flurry of bullets that didn't seem to do almost anything to her. Even when the attack finally connected and I kicked her face with my boot it didn't seem to do shit to her!

“Is that all you've got, punk?” she laughed as she grabbed my leg with her right arm “With this “Determination”, I am invincible!” she tossed me all the way to the boulder where the cats were, which stopped singing for a second: when I finally got up, I saw Karma and Death right in front of me, as Felicity was still busy singing “Girl, you're not doing too good.” the yin-yang cat calmly commented.

“Good guess, Sherlock.” I angrily responded.

“You're powerful, but you're not skilled.” Death pointed out “That fish is weak, you just need to hit her in the right spots...”

“And how am I going to do that?” I inquired, curious.  
“I could help you.” the black cat answered as he looked towards his friend “...Am I allowed?”

“Of course! We need to spice things up a little bit!” Karma answered with a Cheshire-like grin “But, to be fair, you can only use a sniper rifle.”

“That's all I need.” something exited the black cat's body: a small heart, as dark as darkness itself. His Soul, I imagined. I couldn't feel anything from it though, no warmth, no frost...I felt the absolute nothing. The Soul changed shape: it widened, it flatted...in a fraction of a second, it had assumed the shape of a huge rifle, much bigger than the cat himself.

“Get set to get rekt.” the cat yelled as he jumped in the air, turned around twice and shot the fish all the way from where we were: she was too busy looking at us talk to predict something like that would've happened, so she got hit right where the heart would've been. She seemed to suffer the hit, as she flew a feet back. Maybe they were right, I could've really beat her!

“I will provide cover, you focus on attacking where I do.” Death ordered as he somehow teleported back to over the boulder, leaving only black dust in his place.

“Let's do this!” I yelled as I ran towards my opponent once more: she summoned a huge blue spear to attack me directly, but another bullet from Death's rifle made her drop her guard once more. I kicked her repeatedly with my right feet precisely where the bullet had struck before, dealing what looked like a massive amount of damage.

“That's it, you're fucking dead!” the fish screamed as spears erupted from the ground under me, hitting me and sending me flying backwards: I finally made her angry, which was both good...and bad.

“Three-sixty...” I heard Death yell behind me as yet another bullet hit her in her right cheek, which dealt the same amount of damage as before “Seven-twenty...” he kept on yelling as yet another bullet hit her in her left kneecap “Thousand-eighty...” he proudly shouted as a final third bullet penetrated her right elbow.

“You...how dare you attack me, you piece of shit!” the woman madly shouted as more spears flew in my direction: Temmie was right, her anger and her hate were making the spears much more difficult to dodge...and I bet they would've hurt much more too. Fortunately, I was faster than her projectiles...that made me wonder, where was Temmie again?

I sighed in relief when I saw her next to Asriel, who was still crying while munching at least five of those lollipops he kept eating in the Ruins. It had been a while since I last saw him eat one of those, hadn't it?

Oh well, there would've been time to ask him about that once the battle was over...

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No Strawpoll today, sorry. But don't worry, I will make up for it...you'll see how. =3
> 
> I don't know if I missed some grammar errors, I've posted this chapter as soon as I finished it, if there are, well...point them out, so I can correct them.  
> But don't be too rude, please. /=3


	18. Undying love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The battle against Undyne raged on: if I had to beat her, I needed all the help I could...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one took forever to write! I'm becoming lazier and lazier by the day, I swear! =3  
> But yeah, this chapter is...weird. You'll see why. If you dislike...weird...and grim...things...then get out of here.  
> You've been warned! I expect a crap ton of people to comment about a particular detail...

The battle against the fish lady had just begun, of that I was sure. Despite the help I was receiving from Death, beating the Royal Captain wasn't a walk in the park: I hit her, again and again, but each time I only managed to inflict next to no damage. I was doing everything right this time, I was hitting her everywhere Death pointed at...but then, why was I so...weak?

“She's even stronger than I expected...” Death appeared on my shoulder, which scared me a bit for a second; I noticed that, even though he was aiming at my enemy with that huge rifle of his, it was almost as if he wasn't there: in fact, he didn't weigh at all “I like challenges!” he exclaimed as he shot more bullets at Undyne, who didn't manage to avoid even a single one.

She was getting more and more infuriated every time we hit her, and that made her attacks much faster and deadlier: avoiding them became much more difficult than actually landing my hits.

“You're so dead, punk! You're so, so fucking dead!” she kept yelling at me as she shot more of her spears at me: she was annoying me so much, her voice was like an ambulance's siren.

“Keep attacking! She can't endure forever!” the black cat yelled as he lifted himself up in the air and continued sniping Undyne while flying. I have to admit, his accuracy was pretty dang high. That gave me confidence, to have him by my side.

I ran towards my enemy, dodging many spears coming from all directions in the process, and tried to kick her on her left cheek with my left foot. She smirked as she easily blocked the attack “What, you're getting tired, punk?” she didn't realize that, while she was saying those words, I was charging my right leg to hit her on her real weak spot, on her right cheek. My attack was accompanied by lightning bolts which electrocuted the fish and set my left foot free; I followed up with a seemingly endless barrage of kicks on all her known weak spots that resulted in a massive onslaught of damage, doubled by the shotgun shells that exploded right in front of her...but it wasn't quite enough, as she soon managed to regain her composure and sent me flying backwards once more.

-Dammit, what am I doing wrong?- I asked myself confused as my opponent began attacking me with her flying lances. Perhaps I wasn't the problem, maybe we just needed more firepower...but Asriel was still crying, wasn't he? What a crybaby, I thought...I turned towards him as soon as I got the chance: he wasn't lying alone anymore, Temmie and...even Felicity were supporting him as best as they could.

I imagined Karma was the only one playing and singing at the moment...I swear, nothing in that fight made sense. But I liked not knowing what was about to happen next, it made the struggle much more entertaining for me.

Unless what was about to happen was my death.

 

_I approached the goat as he was on his knees, still thinking about Undyne's words: he had lost the will to even talk, he probably didn't even notice me as he stared blankly into the ground, munching a crap ton of those lollipops of his senselessly._

“ _Hey...” I greeted him, but he didn't greet me in return. Temmie approached me and told me “I've never seen someone as broken as him. Look, we're not acquainted at all, but...could you help him, please? It sucks to see him like this...I prefer him much more when he acts like a douche.” I chuckled at the joke, but she was only half joking “I'll see what I can do.”_

_She accepted the answer quietly as I forced the prince of monsterkind to look at me in the eyes “Hello there!”_

“ _Go away...” he didn't even have the strength to force me, I barely heard what looked like an impolite request._

_I tried to cheer him up “Look, I know you don't trust me a lot, but...” Karma told me not to tell too much, but I did so nonetheless “There's no way Mom could have said that! I know Toriel, she's the best goatmom ever: there's no way she could've ever wished your death!”_

“ _How do you know it?” if he was angry, he wasn't showing it very well “What proof do you have? Frankly, I find what Undyne said much more believable...”_

“ _Oh, come on! Do you really want to believe that...” I shivered as I tried to spell that word as best as I could “...Bitch?”_

“ _You didn't answer my question...” only then I noticed that he had spitted all of his lollipops, which were lying on the cold hard ground right in front of him. Well, at least I got him to talk, I thought._

“ _Also, you referred to Toriel as “mom”, not “your mom”. Care to explain?” my fur stood up, sending a shiver down my spine. I was saying too much...but if I stopped now, he would've become even more depressed! I had to decide on whether to tell him the truth or lie to him...and I couldn't lie to him, I could've never lied to him. He was still my goat-bro, after all. Sorta._

“ _If you don't want to believe me, believe them! Your sibling must remember her, so please, listen to them!”_

“ _How do you-”_

“ _Do it! Just, do it!” I yelled at him, nervous and slightly angered._

_He went quiet for a while, I tried to talk to him but I couldn't: he had retreated in himself. I was about to lose hope, when he finally said “Well, they agree with you. Surprisingly, but they do.”_

“ _Really? If you believe them, then-”_

“ _However, I am too tired to challenge Undyne right now...” he closed his eyes as he yawned loudly “I will let them do whatever they want.” I was at first confused by his answer, but when I finally understood what he meant I beamed with joy._

_When the goat reopened his eyes, they beamed with different feelings: he wasn't tired or sad anymore, he was...determined. And angry, very angry._

“ _I promised myself never to fight back, never to hurt anyone...it's time to break that promise. I don't think I'll be too concerned about it anyway.”_

 

Undyne's rage was increasing more and more every time I hit her and every time one of her attacks missed me: she had forfeited trying to hit me from the long range and was now opting for a more direct and aggressive fighting style. I thought dodging her melee attacks would've been easier: I soon found out that it was quite the opposite. Her relentless assault was driving me to the edge, I couldn't even hit her anymore, I was too busy dodging her lunges to try.

I slipped on something and fell on the ground at the worst possible moment: Undyne quickly realized my mistake and jumped on top of me, preventing me from moving away by blocking my chest with her iron boot.

“Finally! You're dead meat, punk!” she yelled as she raised her spear above my head, ready to strike and put an end to the fight.

I was shivering in dread, I was paralyzed from head to toe: my survival instinct betrayed me at the very last second, but I refused to die like that...there had to be a way to get out of that shitty situation...

Something hit Undyne right in the chest, something too big and fiery to be a bullet. I got up immediately and discovered that what hit Undyne was, indeed, a ball of dark fire: who shot it was none other than Asriel himself.

“Don't you dare touch her ever again!” Asriel...no, Chara shouted at the fish, who was trying to get rid of the fire that consumed her: even though she was wearing iron-made armor, the fire rooted as if it were made of wood.

When she finally managed to get rid of the fire, she yelled, somewhat angry “It was about time you joined in! I can't wait to kill you with my own hands!”

“I'm afraid I can't let you, Undyne...” he replied as he slowly walked towards me “...We're too beautiful to die.”  
As the fish lady snorted in disgust, the goat got in a fighting stance as he mimicked me “It's time to be bad...isn't it?”

“Damn right it is.” I answered, more confident than ever.

“Well then, let's settle this once and for all!” Death appeared right next to us, flying in the air without actually moving his white demonic wings “Keep attacking her directly, I'm sure it won't take too long for her to give up.”

Undyne charged at us once more, but her charge was interrupted mid-way by a rising column of fire which made her fly towards us at even higher speed: she lost control of her flight, however, and instead of landing she crashed on the ground right in front of us. She didn't give up, however, as she got up and attacked Asriel by lunging at him with her blue spear of deadliness.

The goat dodged the attack with ease, intimating the woman to try again: she got even more angry, which resulted in her attacking with even more ferocity, if that could've been possible. But the prince's sibling dodged all the attacks by moving just out of harm's way.

Exhausted and tired, the fish stepped back and charged another attack...but Asriel intervened before she could finish: he punched the air in front of him, which spawned a barrage of dark, gloomy fireballs. Soon, the fish was burning in an ocean of fire, which made her lose control and burst out in pain. If magic was boosted by the user's dark emotions...well, I would say that Chara was extremely infuriated.

They stomped the ground with their right foot and another one of those columns of fire erupted right underneath Undyne, causing her to fly in the air incontrollably.

“Now's your chance!” Chara yelled at me “Finish her!”

“Don't need to ask twice.” I replied as I powered up my hindlimb, which sparkled with lightning. I jumped in the air as high as I could, which brought me right in front of my opponent, who was still dealing with the fire consuming her armor.

I leered maliciously as I shouted “Get outta my swamp!” now that I think about it, why did I say that? I was in Waterfall, there weren't...oh, fuck it! It was a good punchline and I didn't care.

I used my “Spinning Bird Kick” against her, hitting her repeatedly in the head with my kicks, my lightning shocks (I was still unsure of what caused them, but I never complained about them either) and my shotgun shells exploding a few inches before her head.

While she fell on the ground miserably, I landed as graciously as a butterfly. An evil, dastardly and deadly butterfly.

Her armor was still burning, so she got out of it in an instant and tossed it away from her before the fire could root in her skin too badly: under that armor, she was wearing a black sleeveless shirt with a cute cat face painted on it and beige jeans. -What an unusual attire for a Royal Guard- I thought.

She looked like she was about to attack me once again...but she crumbled on the ground mid-way, breathless. She was still alive, of that I was sure...but she had lost all the will to fight. Her body couldn't support her recklessness anymore.

As I watched her trying to catch her breath, I heard Chara's steps right behind me “Frisk, are you alright?” I turned towards them: they were genuinely worried about me. For some reason, instead of simply replying, I ran up to them and hugged them tightly. It felt very awkward...but also relieving “Thanks...for everything.”

“You should be thanking Asriel instead.” they blushed “If it weren't for him, you...Frisk?” he called my name in vain, as I sank into his warm embrace, my senses leaving me once again...

 

“ _Hey Asriel, have a look at this!”_

_It had been a while since I began...”living” with Asriel: at first, I thought living segregated in a murderous child's bedroom would've been boring...but that turned out quickly to not be the case._

_Asriel went to school every day, and he left me alone in the bedroom for the whole time: he never locked the door, as he knew I could've never escaped. If I tried, I would've been dead for sure. Every day, he returned home and told me everything about his day up until then. It was weird, I admit it...he told me about teachers, boring lessons, unlikely subjects, friends, enemies, his arch-enemy on whom he had a small crush...every time he told me about such things, I cried. He had the life I always dreamed of having._

_Sometimes, instead of spending the afternoon “experimenting” with and on me, he brought me to certain areas of his palace to explore: toying with the cutlery in the palace's kitchen, playing Hide and Seek in his mansion...I did all I could to appease him. An entertained prince is much easier to deal with than an angry one._

_That one time, he brought me to a huge, majestic garden situated behind the castle itself. More than a garden, it was a labyrinth: hedges created fantastic hallways and dead ends, making that place the perfect playground for two kids like we were; the floor was covered in flowers of all kinds, it looked so beautiful I was afraid of stepping over it._

_I had called Asriel to show him a marvelous red flower I had found: it's petals were as red as blood (wow, what a cheesy metaphor) and it's middle section was as black as night...at least, I remembered the night to be black. There really wasn't a way to define day and night in the Underground, to be honest._

“ _That's one of the most precious flowers we have in the Underground.” the prince explained “It's called a Sanguinem Daemon.” he pronounced the flower's name proudly, probably happy to have done it without messing up “Legends say that the first Sanguinem Daemon was born when the blood of a human touched the fresh soil of a battlefield, and that every one of them holds the memories of a deceased human within them...”_

“ _That's...rather complicated, don't you think?” I asked, puzzled._

“ _Yeah, all myths down here are complicated, unrealistic, and rather grim as well.” he chuckled as he commented “They still make more sense than the human ones I read.”_

_I wanted to press him further on that topic...when a thought popped in my mind “Don't you...don't you want to test this myth out?”_

_He looked at me weirded “What do you mean?”_

“ _I mean, you...it's just weird you haven't tested this legend out yet, okay?”_

“ _I don't feel like it.” he simply answered “Unless you're asking me to hurt you, in which case...” he smirked dastardly._

_I blushed, surprised “W-What?”_

“ _Look, it's evident you're starting to like when I hurt you...” he leered at me, basking in his superior intellect “And it's becoming rather boring, you know? It's no fun hurting you when I know you secretly love it...”_

“ _T-That's not true!” I tried to defend myself, in vain.  
“Anyway, until I find another good way to have fun with you, I guess I'll...stop hurting you, that's all.” he looked at the flower, curious “But one day, we'll definitely test this legend out. You're right, I do want to do it...but not today, I don't feel like it. Maybe next time we come here together, okay?”_

 

When I regained my senses, I realized I was laying on the ground; someone was holding my hand, which I quickly realized was the goat. His grip was solid but soft, it made me feel...weird. Very, very weird.

“Chara, are you...” I was about to ask a question, I don't even remember what I was about to ask them, but I was quickly interrupted “Sorry, I am afraid he's not at home. Mind leaving a message?” I looked at my companion, who I quickly realized (by the ironic smirk, of course) was Asriel.

“Wakey wakey, little one: we are not done yet!” why did he have to be such a douche, I wondered.

“Can I ask you a question? When I black out like that, how much time passes before I...”

“Five minutes or so.” he quickly answered “Enough for me to bind that bitch to the ground...” he pointed somewhere on my right: Undyne was tied with tight ropes to a nearby boulder, defenseless. Some sort of adhesive tape attached to her mouth prevented her from speaking, and I thanked God she couldn't: from the moaning noises she was making I knew that, if she could've talked, she would've deafened me with her shitty threats.

“She's tied, right? Then why isn't it over yet?” I asked, puzzled.

“I can answer that question.” Karma appeared out of nowhere, right atop the goat: with him were Death, Felicity, and Temmie. She had probably arrived before the others, but I didn't realize she was there until then.

“The goat was about to kill the girl...” he squinted at Asriel, who rolled his eyes “...But...you know...we're trying to make an interactive story, so...we'll let you decide.” what did he mean by that, I wondered. I tried to inquire him further, but he refused to give any explanation other than “Those who got ears to listen understood.”

I looked at the fish: she was still trying to set herself free, and it looked like she could've succeeded. If the decision fell upon me, If I had to make the decision, I needed to be quick: she could've broke free any second.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's today's Strawpoll!  
> http://www.strawpoll.me/10039701
> 
> Yeah. Let the comments flow in about that damn particular in Chara's memories.  
> Yep. They became a masochist. Because...well, you have to endure the pain one way or the other, right?


	19. Waterfall: Judgment

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I decided to spare Undyne, despite Asriel's intense desire for her death; the cats decided to celebrate our victory with a barbecue, much to our relief.  
> Oh, and then I got judged. Again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know, we're going too slow here! It's been two months and we're still here, not even close to ending this shit!  
> I have a schedule to follow, I need this fic to end before school does, so that means we have to finish this novel in five weeks or so.  
> I'll try to upload as fast as I can, but I'll let at least two or more days pass before releasing new content here.   
> That's because...well, I need people to vote and not everyone votes the first day. So yeah, enjoy and remember to vote at the end! =3

_[MERCY: Spare]_

 

I looked at the Royal Guard trying to free herself from the ropes that bound her to the boulder: even though she had been beaten, even though she had been humiliated, her objective was still to kill us mercilessly. Maybe Asriel was right, I should've killed her right there...if I didn't, she would've been a nuisance for the rest of the journey.

And yet...I couldn't bring myself to end her. Whenever I tried to convince myself it was the right thing to do, that there was a high chance I wouldn't have survived if I let her live, something that came directly from my Soul stopped me and made me reconsider.

No shame in admitting it now: I had no intention of killing her at all.

I walked towards the hole in the small mountain, completely ignoring Undyne “Come on Asriel, let's get moving.” I heard him follow me close behind, but I heard him stop after a while. When I looked towards him, he was bowing to Undyne, saluting her with Chara's voice “Auf wiedersehen.” they turned away and ran towards me, Temmie sitting on his head.

 

We walked through what looked like an endless hallway, the only light in we had at our disposal was the one caused by Asriel's flames. I prayed Undyne hadn't broke free and was already chasing us, as that wasn't the right place to battle her at all. After a while, we saw a gigantic sign on a nearby wall which spelled in big letters “Hotland”.

“We are going in the right direction at least.” Asriel commented “New Home is now closer than ever: if we continue moving forward without stopping, we should reach the Royal Palace in mere hours.” he explained confidently.

My stomach rumbled: only now I realized I was extremely hungry. Asriel's stomach groaned as well, which made him blush wildly “Oh my...it's been a while since we last ate, hasn't it?”

“It has!” a voice came from in front of us: the cats were barbecuing some hamburgers and sausages on a grill “Since you're giving me a lot of...things, I thought I should recompense you adequately.” Karma clarified “Do you want some _big, juicy,_ _meaty sausages_?” the way he said those last four words made me laugh hysterically. I turned to Asriel: he was eyeing the sausages almost crazily, he had such a weird expression it made me laugh once more.

“Are you sure we're allowed to make such...” Death coughed, I'm not sure if he was faking it or if he legitimately coughed because of the fumes coming from the grill “...Jokes?”

“Relax, we can do everything we want...” Karma explained as he slowly turned a sausage upside-down, making sure that Asriel's gaze was firmly locked on the meat “...As long as it's not explicit, we can make all sorts of jokes. That's the best part of the “Mature” rating...” he chuckled as he filled a plate with all kinds of meat, beef and other grilled food.

Karma invited us to eat everything we wanted, and we gladly accepted the invite: a table and two chairs appeared out of nowhere and we sat on them as the winged animals served us all sorts of delicacies.

I tried a big, expertly cooked hamburger: I felt like I had just eaten the best thing in the world, my tastebuds were thanking me from the bottom of their heart...even though I doubt my tastebuds have hearts. Now that I thought about it, I didn't have breakfast that morning: that meant I had just fought countless battles with an empty stomach! Maybe that was the reason why I wasn't doing that great: I lacked the energy to deal serious blows.

“Ah, so you realized it.” Karma appeared next to me, on the table “Yes, that's one of the other reasons why I'm gifting you this: I need you in perfect physical form, so that you can shine like you deserve!”

“Hey, you mentioned I'm giving you lots of “things”...mind explaning?” I inquired, half sarcastic.

“Hmm...nope.” his grin widened as he continued “Don't get me wrong, I love spoilers...except here. They're anti-productive, you know?” what a cheesy answer, I thought.

“But I can tell you that you're getting closer to the answer.” he added happily “Keep doing what you're doing, and I'll make sure you get what you deserve.”

Death called Karma to the grill: it seemed like there was a problem of some sort; the yin-yang cat sighed “That's what happens when you let someone who doesn't have any cooking experience near a grill!”

“You don't have any cooking experience either!” the black cat yelled at him from the barbecue.

“Shut up! I can do whatever I want here!” that answer confused me, but I decided not to inquire the cat about it. He would've probably answered evasively anyway.

I turned towards Asriel: he was chewing on his food like there were no tomorrow. He didn't realize Felicity was sitting on his shoulder “Hey there!”

He almost puked from the jumpscare he got “Holy shit, do not do that ever again!”

She jumped off his shoulder immediately upon hearing those words, she was terrorized “I'm sorry! I just wanted to surprise you...”

“And you did...fuck...” he regained whatever dignity he had left and started a conversation with her “Thank you for helping me, before. I still do not know if Mom really hates me...but at least I let them save Frisk from Undyne. If it weren't for your suggestion, she would have probably died.” he squinted in my direction, and I replied by telling him to go fuck himself. “Will do, will do.” he answered, much to my confusion.

“It's fine, don't worry! I just wanted to help you, like you helped me tons of times before.”

“I never helped you...” he pointed out, curious “...Are you sure you're referring to me?”

“Oh, I am...” she looked away, embarrassed “I was referring to you...but also not...” she closed her eyes as she shouted, nervous “I-It's weird, okay! Stop asking me questions, please!”

“And you should stop answering them.” Karma appeared behind her, scaring her just like she scared Asriel before “I have a judgment to pass out, so either you grab a seat or you go help Death with that hellish device.” after a while, she decided to spectate. Death soon appeared and decided to spectate too.

“So, do I have to get up or...”

“You can stay where you are.” he replied, making me even more confused “I'm tired, I don't feel like going through all that bullshit...the trance, the lights, the Bee Gees singing “Stayin' alive” in the background...”

“I...I've never heard that song before.” I admitted, puzzled.

“Well, I did.” he simply answered “It's getting boring, you know? To judge you even though it's blatantly obvious what path you're taking and why you're doing certain things instead of others...the worst part is that I could do a complete scan of your personality, but I can't do that because it's too early!” he said that almost angrily, but he tried to keep his composure “So we're skipping through all the preparations: let's get this over with as quickly as we can, okay?”  
I nodded in approval: sparing a few seconds would've been nice, after all.  
“Perfect! Let's begin then, shall we?”

“ **First off, when you were hiding from Undyne, instead of fighting her or trying to sneak away,** _ **you chose to stay hidden**_ **. I never thought you were the patient type, you know...** _ **and that's because you aren't**_ **.** _ **Either you were scared of being caught by the Royal Guard...or you wanted to avoid a potential fight at all costs: that means you're either a coward or,**_ **in a weird way** _ **, a pacifist.**_

**Next, when Papyrus confronted you after we fought that giant octopus monster,** _**you chose to stay and talk with him: that alone confirms you're not a coward, as you would've ran away immediately if you were** _ **. You're a very interesting character, Frisk:** _**even though you're edgy, evil and powerful, you're still a good person at heart** _ **. Oh, you're so sweet I need to go to the dentist...anyway, let's continue.**

**Then,** _ **you chose not to talk with the old monster and go straight for Temmie**_ **. Very good, noble and shit...except that, if you didn't talk with that guy, he wouldn't have made you those sweet new guns...I had to do something, you know?** ”

“What do you mean you had to do something?” I asked, both skeptical and angered.

“Well, I had to...manipulate the situation. Let's admit it: those guns gave you a shit ton of swag points, and I couldn't have let you get away without them...”

“You mean that my choice didn't matter at all in the end?” if that were the case, then what was the point in doing that judgment-thing?

“ **Anyway,** _ **technically, you chose right. You're brave, courageous and kind...**_ **so yeah, you're pretty good.**

**Next, when Temmie needed your help the most,** _**you consoled her and told her that her past wasn't important to you.** _ **I'll need more than one visit to the dentist after we're done here, that's for sure...** _**anyway, this points out furthermore that you're kind and gentle at heart.** _

**Last but not least, when you had the possibility to kill Undyne and get rid of her for...ever,** _ **you chose to spare her**_ **.** _ **You seem determined not only to survive, but to let others survive as well**_ **. That's positive...sorta.** ”

“What do you mean?” I asked, puzzled.

“I mean that, perhaps, it's more merciful to kill everyone you meet rather than sparing their lives.” he simply answered, inexpressive “Ask Asriel, if you don't believe me.”

I turned towards my furry companion, which explained “Life in the Underground isn't as idyllic as you may think: if you looked around you, in Snowdin town, in Waterfall right outside the garbage dump...it seems as though my father hasn't done too much in the last fifty years. In fact, everything just got worse.” he was almost...sad. I never saw him like that “I exiled myself in the Ruins fifty years ago: back then, things weren't as bad as they are now...sure, they were still bad, but not like this...”

“The war- I mean, the world has changed.” Karma chuckled for some reason, I'm pretty sure he made that error on purpose “We're exploring only the choices Frisk makes...but there a moment will come when you, Asriel, will have to make a choice.” as the cat warned the prince, I tried to make him answer a particular question “Hey, why did you exile yourself anyway?”

“I had to do so in order to save my life...and my sibling's Soul.” he explained, even sadder “I...failed my father. And I'm not talking about a slip or anything like that, I'm talking about a failure so big he wanted me dead...thankfully, my mother stepped in and ordered my exile in the Ruins of the old capital to avoid my execution...” he recalled, tears streaming down his face “That's why I cried so much, before...there's no way Mom would have betrayed me like that...I refuse to believe that, after all she's done for me, she would stab me in the back without warning...”

“I'm sure she didn't!” Felicity had a determined look on her face “Maybe, if we can talk to her, we can find out the truth! There has to be a way to speak with her before getting to the Royal Palace...” she whispered something in Death's ear, to which she replied aloud “This is a very different world, girl. You've seen it yourself: nothing's going on as it should be. If we meet her, good...but there's a considerable chance we don't.”

“Uh, what do you mean “we”?” Karma stepped in “Don't tell me you...”

“Yeah, we were talking between ourselves before...” Felicity answered the question before the other cat could even finish it “...And we decided that it's boring to be relegated to comic relief! We want an active role, we want to participate in this story!” she said so with an undying enthusiasm.

“Yeah, I want to shoot some people!” the black cat smirked as he added “I haven't killed anyone in a while: if I don't terminate some useless secondary character now, I might decide to kill the protagonist or something...” he pointed in my direction, which made me shiver.

“You know what? It might actually be a good idea.” Karma turned towards me and looked at me in the eyes, carefree “So, what do you say? Do you want these two dorks to join you?”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's today's Strawpoll! (You didn't expect it, did you? =3)  
> http://www.strawpoll.me/10073898
> 
> This choice won't matter in any future judgment, because...well, we all want those two balls of fur to join our team...right?  
> Please tell me you do! ヽ(✧ω✧)ﾉ


	20. Hotland: Theory

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We finally arrived in Hotland, and our group was now larger: together, we explored the laboratory...and met a weird dinosaur.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yep, this chapter was full of errors and stuff...emphasis on "was". Now it's clean. Was I really going so fast I didn't notice all those errors?  
> Anyway, I apologize, I planned this chapter to be very different...but I needed to cut it off, else there wouldn't have been a very good reason to put a Strawpoll in.  
> Anyway, hope you guys like this chapter! =3

_[ACT: Join]_

 

I was about to tell the cats they could go fuck themselves, that they were interfering with _my_ journey and that they should have done something better with their time...but I didn't. For a second, I felt some kind of weird...sensation coursing through my veins, filling the air in my lungs, the thoughts in my brain, the beats in my heart.

-What do I have to lose?- I thought -It can't get worse than it already is...- what scared me the most was -It'll be so fun! This is surely going to be amazing!- I was about to vomit, those thoughts weren't mine at all! And yet, I acted as if they were “Yeah, sure. If the decision falls on me, I will let you two come with us.”

Felicity was excited, Death was...smiling, despite not looking very happy...what scared me the most was Karma, who was smiling in an extremely creepy way as he looked to the ground; he avoided looking at me in the eyes as he whispered evilly “Well, well, well...what do we have here?”

Asriel and Temmie eyed at him suspicious as he continued “It seems as though someone cheated...how unfortunate...” suddenly, he looked at me: his gaze and his tongue were both so sharp they could cut right through me “...Looks like we have a dirty hacker in our ranks...”

“What are you talking about?” Asriel wasn't sure if to be suspicious, angered or afraid “First off, what is a hacker? Secondly, who are you talking about?”

“Oh, nobody.” he returned to his cheerful, carefree persona “I will pretend I didn't see it, this time: after all, I want these two to get the fuck out too!” he laughed loudly: whether that laugh was supposed to be taken seriously or not was out of my comprehension. Suddenly, he switched back to his evil and yet serious gaze “But if you try anything fancy ever again...you won't live to regret it.” it only lasted the length of these words, as he immediately reverted to his happy facade “I'll let you handle things from now on Death. Have a nice evening!”

The cat emitted a blinding light, which disoriented me for a second: when I regained control of my eyes, he was nowhere to be seen.

“So...do I have to keep you two over my head as well?” Asriel inquired the two cats ironic “Because, to be frank, I do not have any intention of doing so.”

“No need to do so.” the black cat answered: what looked like a small black whirlwind engulfed him for a second, obscuring my view once more. As the black dust that formed the tornado disappeared, I realized what did the cat mean: Death was now as tall as a human being, to be precise he was slightly taller than me and a little shorter than Asriel. He wasn't “naked” anymore, if a cat can be naked that is, as he was wearing a long black coat that looked like it came straight out of “Matrix”. The cat grabbed a pair of black sunglasses from the coat's pocket and wore them even though there was no need to do so at all; he then said, in the most badass way possible “About time I have some fun.” he looked so damn cool...I could've liked him if he weren't a freaking cat.

Felicity jumped on his shoulder and immediately found a comfy spot: she didn't have any intention of growing to her normal size, she explained afterwards, as she thought there was no need for her to do so.

“If we are done with this useless charade...” Asriel announced “...We should get going. Immediately.”

“I agree.” Temmie looked almost grim “Beating Undyne was impressive, but I sense we're not out of danger yet.

 

We spent the following minute getting out of that dark corridor: we weren't sure where exactly to go, so we kept arguing until we eventually decided to trust Felicity's intuition, which did not fail us in the slightest.

 

The area that Asriel and Temmie called “Hotland” lived up to its name: the heat was unbearable, I felt like I needed to undress completely...I wanted to take off my skin as well, but that wouldn't have been possible even if I seriously considered the option. Temmie offered to use her phone to store all the clothes we wanted to get rid off: she said she didn't need to, that she was fine wearing her usual “attire”, Felicity declined as she wasn't wearing anything to begin with, Death refused since he felt alright (earning a few glares from both me and Asriel, as we were dying of heat right next to him) and Asriel sighed as he explained “I'm wearing almost nothing under this robe, and I do not think you want to-”

 

“We do not!” Temmie reassured him terrorized “Frisk, do you want to-”

“Of course I do!” I took off my jacket and my shirt: I thanked God I was wearing something under that shirt, to be precise a small, short top that covered my merchandise and left my belly uncovered. I would've felt very embarrassed if there were nothing under that stylish shirt.. I decided to keep my pants on since there weren't any others I could've wore instead; besides, I didn't think it was necessary either.

 

“Great, now we can go.” since when did Temmie become so...responsible? I don't know, I felt like something had snapped in her: she took everything much more seriously than she ever did before.

We passed what looked like another sentry post, except it was empty; -Looks like luck's on my side today- I thought as I smirked.

Oh, I haven't even described the place yet: it looked like a fusion between the inside of a volcano and an upland biome. We were standing atop of large, long...floating islands or something like that; below us, the flowing magma. If we were to fall down there, we wouldn't have survived for sure. I noticed how deadly that place was when we walked on a long suspended wooden bridge (seriously, did the person who designed that place know in anticipation I would've passed through there? Because otherwise I don't understand why would someone ever build so many Tibetan bridges...) and geysers of lava erupted all around us: at least, that motivated me to get off that...thing as fast as humanly conceivable.

As I tried to catch my breath after that exhausting dash, I heard Asriel and Death converse on what to do next “We could take the elevator over there...” Asriel suggested as he pointed at a white elevator with the words “L1” painted over the entrance “I know for a fact that that's the fastest way to get to New Home.”

“You're right.” Death observed “But I know for a fact that, the first time you get to Hotland, the elevator is always busted.” the first time you get to Hotland...what did he mean by that?

Asriel eyed him suspicious and decided to investigate the elevator: he returned quickly afterwards stating aloud “How the hell did you know?”

“Intuition.” bullshit, of that we were all sure.

“Yeah, of course.” the goat grabbed him by the neck angrily “I do not have time for your games! Tell me how did you know the elevator was busted or else-”

“Or else what?” the cat leered “You're going to kill me? Are you sure you want to do that? Aren't you sick of killing people for no reason?” Death bombarded the prince with questions; he got a reaction only with the last one “How do you-”

“I know what you've done.” he simply explained “And soon, everyone will. Especially her.” he pointed at me, and I knew what he meant. He was talking about the visions: from what I understood, I was about to have one where Asriel...killed someone? But I already did have one like that, and he didn't give a shit...wait, did Asriel even know I had visions about Chara's past?

“She will never see it...” the goat let go of the cat's neck: as Felicity reprimanded Death for his behavior, Asriel approached me and forced me to move on “Why did you have to let them in...” guess that answered the question...

“I don't know, okay?” I answered, annoyed.

If we couldn't use that elevator, then the only other place we could've went to was a big white building right in front of us: the words “LAB” were written over the entrance, explicating what was the building supposed to be. A laboratory.

“So, this is the Laboratory...” Asriel commented “To be honest, I have never seen it in person. Father always told me that the Royal Scientist worked here “for the sake of monsterkind” or something like that...that I was not supposed to play in here...” his smirk grew ten times larger as he cracked his fists “Well, I think that's another rule to add to the list.”

“The list of what?” Death asked.

“The list of rules I have broken ever since entering the Underground.” he explained, glad he made that question “It's incredible how much can a monster and a human do in less than a day...” he was still hungry for vengeance on Death, but...maybe the situation wasn't as dire as I originally envisioned it.

The door was blocked, and Asriel knew it wouldn't have opened. There was no reason to open to us, we were criminals of the worst category in that place “Don't worry though, I possess the keys.”

“How can you possibly have the-” I couldn't finish my sentence: the door got blasted open by a quick and yet powerful barrage of dark flames conjured a few feet away from the door itself. By then I was sure, whoever designed the Underground was an idiot: the door were too frail to hold back anyone. Instead of the words “LAB”, they should have wrote “ROBBERS FEEL FREE TO COME IN” on the front entrance.

The inside was...weird: a large room extended before us, even though it looked more like a corridor than a real room. The floor was covered in red squared tiles and the walls were painted evenly in black. A giant television set covered an eighth of the left wall, a dozen feet away from the entrance: in front of that TV stood a comfortable and yet torn sofa, so big at least three people could sit at the same time. There wasn't much else in that room, apart from a desk and a computer: both were covered in paperwork, frankly I don't even know how I could see the PC under all that paper. Other random things were scattered around the room: mostly junk, but also other things like a fridge, a huge bag of chips...posters of cute, furry girls...with paws and...staves...and...huge boobs...everything reminded me of...

“Weeaboos.” Death expressed the concept for me “Here it's even worse...”

“What does “weeaboo” mean?” Asriel desperately wanted to understand a word of what the cat said. Honestly, I don't know why that word popped in my mind: I didn't know what weeaboos were either! But I just knew that whoever inhabited that laboratory surely was one...

“What the heck was that?” a feminine voice came from behind a nearby wall: that wall was soon revealed to be fake, as it quickly opened like a door would.

On the other side of the door stood a large, mean-looking lizard, with a long tail and an even longer tongue: she looked like a dinosaur, just like that kid from Waterfall, she was as tall as I was (maybe a bit smaller) and she was...fat. No reason to use softer words, she was fat. Oh, and she had big boobs too. Still better than Undyne: even without her armor, her goods were still as flat as the ground she walked on. She wore a long, black lab coat and...very odd glasses: from up close they looked normal, but from a distance you could see a distinctive spiral pattern on the external part of the glass.

“Look who's here: Morticia Adams.” Death applauded the monster for some reason “I have to admit, I like her look more than anyone else's...don't you agree, Felicity?”

“...Sure...” she answered, unsure.

Meanwhile, the monster on the other side of the door couldn't believe what...or better, who was in front of her “Oh...my...God...” her voice was surprisingly feminine for someone her size.

“Who wants to subdue her?” Death asked “I volunteer.”

“You!” she pointed at Death “You _totally_ look like “Bast” in Mew Mew Kissy Cutie 3: Terror in Cutieland!” she ran up to him at supersonic speed (how could she even run so fast?) and kept praising him “OMG, this is the best cosplay I've ever seen! I mean, I hate the character, but OMG you're so cool!”

“Uh...” the cat didn't know how to answer...and frankly, neither did anyone else.

“Can I take a picture with you? Please? Please?” she asked excitedly.

Before he could answer, she grabbed a phone from one of her coat's pockets and took a selfie with him: from the look he had while he was posing, I already knew that photo wouldn't have been great at all.

“It's so cool!” nevermind, she liked it anyway “I'm going to share this with ALL my friends!” she then looked upwards, away from the screen of her device “...Wait, my only friend is Undyne...whatever! I'm sending her this! Right! Now! Oh, she's going to be so jealous...” she was about to say something else, but Death grabbed her phone and held it above her, just out of her reach “Hey, give it back! That's mine!” she kept yelling at the cat.

“You're pissing me off.” he announced: we all clapped our hands in approval “If you stop giggling like a three-years old kid, I might consider giving it back.” that made her even angrier, but she quickly understood kicking Death in the shin wouldn't have solved the problem so she stopped and crossed her arms.

“Good girl.” he patted her on the head and gave her back her phone.

“You're a dick.” she yelled at Death, earning a chuckle from all of us: this monster was...weird, but also kinda funny. What I liked the most of her was that she hadn't tried to kill us as soon as she saw us.

“Anyway, you two are...” she looked at me and Asriel: it looked like she finally became serious, after a whole minute spent dancing around the black cat “...Does this mean that Undyne...”

“If you are talking about the Royal Guard, I can assure you that she is safe...” Asriel eyed at me, half glad and half annoyed “...Thanks to her...”

“Really? She's still alive?” the dinosaur beamed with joy “Oh thank God! I was afraid she was going to die...she wanted to kill the prince so badly...” her expression turned grim all of a sudden “...Whoops.” she tried to excuse herself in ever way possible “Sorry! I didn't mean to! I love you! I have a crush on you, you know! You're so cool! And you remind me of Asgore...mmh...Asgore...I mean, I wrote a fanfiction about you! Tons, actually! And...”

“And I don't give a damn.” Asriel finally said “Look, I am getting bored of your shenanigans. Tell me who you are, if you are a friend or foe and, if you are our ally, how do we reach the Royal Palace safely...”

She got caught off-guard, but she quickly answered “Oh, yeah...you don't know me...sorry...”

“Answer the question, I don't want your excuses!” Asriel's tone was getting more and more impatient, I knew that if that monster didn't answer that question in that instant she would've been reduced to ashes.

“I-I'm Alphys! The Royal Scientist! A-And I'm your friend! I mean, not your friend...but your ally! Yes, your ally! And the fastest way to reach the Royal Palace is...”

“Hold it right there, darling!” a voice yelled from the other side of the room: the door on the other side of the building exploded as two figures entered the room abruptly. The two looked like humans, but I quickly realized they weren't humans at all: the weird structure of their body, the strange marks on their faces, all those buttons, meters and cranks on their chests...those two were robots.

The first one was colored mostly in red, it looked like...Micheal Jackson...wait, that guy looked exactly like that silhouette from Snowland! His “clothes”, if we can define clothes whatever the hell he was wearing, were all integral part of his body and were mostly colored in black, red and yellow. His hair (fake as fuck) was black and looked like a popstar's...yeah, the paragon with Micheal Jackson stands solid.

The other one didn't look like first one at all: he wore normal clothes, which looked like normal weekend clothes to me, over his normal robotic body. His favorite colors were blue, azure and white: it reminded me of something...or someone, to be precise, but I couldn't recall who. He wore a baseball cap backwards, he looked like a...a...I don't know, he looked like something...a deejay, maybe? I don't know, I wasn't sure of what he was supposed to be. He was unsure, insecure, but his partner had a weird expression: a mixture of confidence, superiority and malice. I didn't like that guy at all.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's today's Strawpoll!  
> http://www.strawpoll.me/10113820
> 
> And yeah, sorry for that beginning part. Rules are rules, after all.  
> But nobody likes dirty hackers. Stop. =3


	21. Hotland: Practice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The robots weren't friendly at all (at least one of them wasn't) and attacked us: thankfully, we managed to fend them off...but the cats, as well as Asriel, unsettled me for some reasons...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Urgent communication: I'm in a shitty spot. A really shitty spot. School is ending, both my teachers and my classmates are killing me and my time to write becomes smaller and smaller.  
> So please, if I miss some uploads, don't get too angry: find some other Undertale fics, I don't know...just wait a few days, updates will still be sorta frequent.  
> Anyway, enjoy! =3

_[ACT: Talk]_

 

I wasn't scared of those guys: they didn't look like normal monsters, but they didn't look anything special either...besides, I had defeated the head of the Royal Guard, so there was no way those robots could've been any more difficult. Perhaps they weren't there to fight...bah, who was I kidding: it was obvious they were hostile.  
But hey, trying never hurts they say “More guests? Sorry, we're full: try again next year, okay?”; -What the fuck did I just say?- I thought, embarrassed.

“I'm sorry, darling...” the red one said, with an...effeminate voice “We never booked anything...in fact, you seem to be the one who has booked.” I was wondering whether he took me seriously...or he was just fooling around; in any case, this guy didn't look straight at all.

“We have a...reservation? For what?” Felicity asked, gullible.

“Are you even serious? I can see from a while away it's a trap...” Death whispered to her, acid.

The red robot posed dramatically as he announced “You all have a special reservation...right here, right now, for Metttaton's Super Cool Show!” I heard fake claps come from somewhere around me, but they were produced by some kind of device: where were they coming from, exactly? I looked at Alphys, the dinosaur, who was just as speechless as anyone in that moment was.

“Mettaton's Super Cool Show, huh? What a cheesy name.” Asriel sighed, almost depressed. Maybe he had seen too much stuff in one day to take it seriously...or maybe, to not take it seriously: I wasn't sure what sentiments was the robot trying to communicate, seriousness or...comicality? Up until then, it looked like the latter.”

“How dare you insult my amazing naming skills?” the robot, whose name I figured out was probably Mettaton, was insulted by Asriel's comment “I will have you know that recent researched demonstrate that everything that has the words “super” and “cool” is guaranteed to be liked by kids...and also, there's “Mettaton” in the name, which is me! And everyone, statistically, loves me! Am I right, Blooky?” he turned to his companion, who nodded at him nervously; “Blooky”...that name reminded me of someone, but I had yet to recall who precisely.

“Where do you think you live, in the eighty's?” Temmie pulled out a calculator and typed something “The latest surveys prove that the best names in television and on the web are those that have names that don't have anything to do with the main subject, and whose sole purpose is to induce certain feelings in the viewer to-”

“Blooky!” the robot yelled at his nervous companion “What the hell is she saying? That graph you showed me was clear-”

“Actually, that graph was fake...” his voice was low and...imperfect, as if it had yet to mature fully; the robot covered his face with his hands as he admitted “You wouldn't have accepted anything else! Besides, your show isn't as popular as it used to be, the daily income has been reduced to seventy-percent of the original value and-”

“Enough! I don't care! My show is still the best one in the entire Underground...” he pointed at me with his sharp, shiny black index finger “...And if it isn't, it will be once I film your death! I will become so popular everyone, male and female, will have a crush on me! So rich I will be swimming in money! So-”

“Dude, just shut up.” I told him, unimpressed “Undyne got demolished, do you really think you will be any different?”

He didn't answer this time: instead, he pressed a button and dozens...maybe hundreds of robots entered the building from where he and his friend did: they looked like they came from some old cartoon, both their arms and legs looked extensible, but primitive in design; the main body looked like a trash can and their “face” only had one, enormous red light (probably their eye now that I think about it) and an antenna. All of them had with them either a melee weapon or a gun, with a lot of variety in both design and utility.

“Everyone loves a good massacre, don't they?” Mettaton commented “I would love to join the party, but it would suck if your blood spilled on my “formal” body, don't you think?”

-What a diva...- I sighed as I prepared for battle.

“Why, yes!” Death walked in front of me, smiling “I've been waiting for an opportunity like this for hours!” he walked towards the robots, carefree; I noticed that Mettaton and his companion, Blooky, had stayed behind to...film the entire thing. Well, they did mention some kind of show before...

“Robobots, open fire!” as I thought of how stupid the name “robobot” was, the robots who possessed a gun opened fire: the bullets pierced through the cats body and coat, blood coming out of the freshly-opened holes in the animal's body. We were all shocked, he just got killed for no reason...but Felicity was looking at him serious, not preoccupied “He isn't dead...but they will soon be.”

When the robots finished shooting at the still-standing black feline, I noticed it: the holes were reforming, the blood was still being pumped in his veins at supersonic speed; his brain, his heart...his everything had been hit, but it didn't seem to matter. Now I know that, if I could see his face in that moment, he would've been smiling “Did you have fun? Yes? No? It doesn't matter: I will send you all to your maker!” he referred to them as living beings, which made me chill for some reason.

He summoned two Mp5s out of nowhere and pointed them at the robots, confident “Get set to get rekt.” he began shooting just as the robots finished reloading: he shot at random, not caring about what he hit as long as he hit something. The automatons crumbled to the ground one by one, but more and more kept on coming from the other side of the room, he was going to get swarmed...

I believed it was about time I had some fun myself, so I shouted what had basically become my trademark “It's time to be bad!”

I jumped as high as I could towards the right wall and wall-ran towards Death and his aggressors. I used my right hand to stabilize my run and my left one to shoot, specifically those robots that were too far away from the battle to do anything. I jumped and flipped to the other side of the room, dealing as much damage as I could now that both my hands were free, then returned wall-running on the left wall but in the opposite direction, towards my other friends.

Asriel wanted to spill some blood of his own (in a metaphorical sense, since those things were made of metal and all...) so he began shooting black gloomy fireballs at the automatons from a distance, careful not to attract their direct attention. I was having fun, in a certain sense: I was displaying all the skills I had learned up until then perfectly, I rejoiced in my power...but then I saw it. A bullet, right between my eyes; didn't even see it coming. I saw it just a second before it pierced through my skull, right through my brain...

“No!” I heard Felicity scream: I felt like my actions, my thoughts, everything was being re-winded, all the previous errors erased; then, everything returned to normal and I was still alive...but I had to move. This time, I dodged that one bullet with no ease, as I perfectly knew where would it have come from: I looked at Felicity, who was giving me a thumbs-up from a distance. I wondered if anyone else realized what had just happened...I don't think so, as Asriel would've freaked out if he did.

In the end, what looked like an endless army of robots armed to the teeth and hunting for blood disappeared in little less than a few minutes, thanks to my, Asriel and Death's efforts combined.

“Unbelievable!” Mettaton couldn't accept the sight in front of him: an entire army destroyed by a human, a monster and...something “Do you think foiling my plans will make you popular, human? Do you?” what sort of insult was that? I squinted at him like the madman he was: if I were asking to be popular, I would've been camming.

“Actually...” Blooky took something from his back: a small laptop, as big as a schoolbook “The stream is a commercial success! More and more people are subscribing to your show: you're at least twice as popular as you were yesterday!” he looked away, careful that Mettaton weren't paying attention: evidently, that “twice” didn't mean a lot, by the robot's standards.

“Fantastic!” the android did look away: in fact, he wasn't paying attention to his sidekick anymore “I will now claim copyright over your head! No other studio will have the chance to murder you live! I will make a business with you, a business that will, oh so tragically, end with your departure!” he turned to Blooky, who had deleted all the nervousness from his expression “Come on, Napstabot! We have claims to file! Locations to buy! Heads to cut off!” he grabbed him by the wrist and ran out of the room like a rocket...in fact, he wasn't running: he was simply flying very close to the ground.

If I weren't used to it, I would've found that weird.

“Hey, are you alright?” Asriel approached me from behind and patted me on the head, mockingly “You did good back there...Frisk? Frisk?” but I was already sinking in absolute darkness.

Before I lost consciousness, I swear I heard Death comment “Oh come on! Now you're just forcing it! I thought it only happened in case of intense situations!”

 

“ _Are you feeling alright?” that was, precisely, the eighth time he had asked that in...less than two hours, I think “You don't have to worry.” I answered, just like I did the previous times. He didn't want me to answer like that, he said, he wanted me to say I felt alright._

_Fever, coughing, headache: the worst disease I had caught in all my life. Of course, it wasn't enough powerful to kill me...at least, I didn't believe (or want to believe) it was...but it still stuck me to Asriel's bed for a day or so. That day was the first one: he had just discovered I didn't feel well at all, and he had insisted I took all the precautions to not get worse._

“ _You have to be feeling better!” he kept yelling at me quietly, as to not unsettle his parents who were likely doing something in the living room “If you have to suffer, at least suffer by my hand, goddammit!”_

“ _Hey, I'm not having fun either...” I answered, coughing a little bit “You don't have to worry so much, I'll be-” I coughed even louder: it was getting even worse, every minute that passed my fever increased, my headache became even more unbearable..._

_Asriel noticed it, as he immediately decided to do something he never dared to do before “I'm calling Mom for help.”_

“ _Are you crazy? Didn't you say all monsters down here want humans like me dead? She will rejoice in my suffering...maybe she will kill me herself! Besides, can't you consider what would happen to you if your parents knew that-”_

“ _I'm very well aware of the consequences...” he growled angrily, his eyes were beginning to water “But I have faith in Mom: she's not like Dad, maybe...maybe she will help you...I can't lose you like this, you're...you're my best friend...” he got up and walked out of the room; I wanted to follow him, but the headache had anchored me to the bed like a boat to the lee of an island._

_I was scared: not for me, but for Asriel. What if his mother wasn't as good as he envisioned her? I had learned, in my last month there, that monsters could be quite...unforgiving, to say the least. He could've died...maybe by his parents' hands. It would've been fine if I died, but...I didn't want to drag Asriel down with me: it wouldn't have been right...he didn't deserve it..._

“ _Is that...” I didn't even notice her come in; she was like a bigger version of Asriel, but...seemingly kinder. She was a “Woman” with the capital “W”: she looked beautiful, sexy, powerful, intimidating...but also kind, gentle, caring...like a mother should be, I thought. She wore a long black robe with amazing red finishes, and a diadem of jewels and diamonds. She also wore a simple golden ring on her right index, which I thought was normal since she was married._

_Mother and son talked for a while, presumably about me, but I was too focused on admiring her in her beauty, her magnificence, that I didn't realize she had approached me: she held my hand with her paw, making me fall from the clouds. Too bad, it was a wonderful dream._

“ _Greetings.” her voice was that of an angel...I was about to cry, but I didn't want to look weak in front of her “It seems like my son has...a fair interest in you, may I say.”_

“ _If you want to kill me, then please...don't hurt Asriel: he doesn't deserve it, he just tried to-”_

“ _Do not worry, my child.” my child? I felt tears streaming down my face as she continued “I do not have any interest in hurting you: you're a child, and I shall never spill the blood of an innocent kid. You are young, but also intelligent and mature...I can tell that you suffered much more in your life than most of the monsters down here did.” how could she...how did she know that?_

“ _W-What do you want to do with me then?” I asked, still a bit worried._

“ _I will help you to the best of my ability: I will get rid of this disease of yours...at least partially, I hope.. However, that is all I can do for you: my husband, Asgore...he doesn't have the same sensibility I possess for humans. Centuries of imprisonment underground made him forget the mistakes of our people, he hates all humans immensely and equally...if he ever finds you, you will die. And Asriel might too, since he has protected you for so long.” I gulped: that was exactly what I was trying to avoid._

“ _I am ready to take the risk.” the prince announced from behind his mother; we both turned towards him: his expression was a determined one, an expression I had never seen him wear before “You are my pet, after all...I would be a bad master if I let my pet die.” what a sassy excuse indeed...his mother chuckled as she told him “Well then, I will let you do whatever you want with him...” she then looked at the both of us, extremely serious “But, if Asgore ever finds out about you, human...I won't do anything to protect you, and I also ask that you do not drag me into it either: despite his recent changes in his behavior, Asgore is still the monster I married and that I will always love...”_

_We both nodded: she was already doing me a huge favor by healing me, there was nothing more I could ask for...I wondered if my mother had been like Toriel, back when she was still alive...I would've given anything to have her still with me, but fate seemed to have a thing for making me cry._

 

I woke up in a warm embrace: Asriel's. I didn't try to escape or anything this time: I wanted to see what he would've done. He didn't do anything, he simply held me close to him like I were the most precious thing in his whole life. What an idiot...first he calls me his pet, then shows this much concern? Even for them?

He let me go without warning: I fell booty first to the ground, my backside hurt a little bit “Thanks a lot, dick...” I cursed at him, angry.

“You're welcome.” he simply answered, chuckling.

The robots had disappeared, as I soon found out: while I was busy reliving the memories of someone else, Asriel, the cats and Alphys did a few things “First off, I changed my clothes: Alphys gave me a...costume, I think that's what she called it, that...represents me in some manner. Do you like it?” the prince asked, half ironic and half serious. He now wore a black shirt with that angel-like symbol painted on it, long black and red pants and a long red cape with that same symbol painted on the back side. Not to mention the two star-like earrings, those were a nice touch.

“Cool.” I answered, intrigued “You definitely look much better.”

“Why, thank you.” he bowed, but he did so mockingly: he was still a huge dick...I needed to ask him about the visions, that was for sure. He needed to answer my questions, one way or the other: I was tired of receiving hints from those dreams.

However, I understood there were bigger priorities: we were all reunited in front of Alphys, who was showing us the two fastest routes to get to New Home “You can either walk down the long road...” she pointed towards where the two humanoid pieces of junk had vanished at “Which will take a long time but _might_ be a bit safer...”

“Yeah, might...” Death repeated like a parrot, unconvinced.

The dinosaur kept on pointing in that direction “The alternative is to ride the elevator, which is right outside of here: you can skip a lot of traveling time, but...” I hated that “but”: it meant that something could've, and would've, gone wrong “There's the chance Mettaton could rig the circuits and...in the worst case scenario, kill you outright...or maybe capture you, I don't know...”

“If we have to believe both the choices' worst outcomes can and will happen, according to Murphy's Law...” Felicity explained “...Basically, there's no real good decision: it's just a matter of _how_ do we want to get captured, rather than _if_...”

“Frisk?” Asriel looked at me, inexpressive “What do you think?”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's today's Strawpoll!  
> http://www.strawpoll.me/10145783
> 
> Guys, I get it: you are pissed because of what happened the other day.  
> I swear, something like that will never happen again. Can we reach at least fifteen total votes on this one, please? I have an ego to satisfy. (=3


	22. Hotland: Trivial

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I found out that Alphys was hiding something just before leaving her be, much to my dismay.  
> After being pursued by an unusual monster, I ended up straight in Mettaton's trap.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo, this chapter is hilarious. I will announce that from the beginning.  
> At least, it was hilarious to me, but a lot of people say that my humor is very British so maybe it's not that great. =3  
> Anyway, sorry for the delay, but from now on there shouldn't be any more! Enjoy!

_[ACT: Ride]_

 

Time was running short, we needed to get to the barrier before Asgore found a way to deal with us: it was only a matter of time before he, who was a King and had an astounding amount of resources and meatshields- I mean, monsters on his side, discovered a flaw in our strategy. We needed to get to the barrier immediately: every second that passed decreased our chances of survival...my chances of getting out of the Underground alive.

“We need to get to the Royal Palace immediately, don't we? Who cares if it's risky: we ride that goddamn elevator.” I explained to my teammates.

“Seems legit.” Death approved “If Mettaton does something stupid or weird, we deal with him, no big deal.”

“Well then.” Asriel cracked his fists “If the preparations are over, we should get going immediately: I doubt staying in the same spot for too long would benefit us, at all.” he went towards the exit, where Alphys said the elevator was located. Death and Felicity followed him close behind, but Temmie decided to stay atop my head as I talked a bit to Alphys: I wanted her to ask a few more questions “What are you going to do now?”

She paled as soon as I finished that question “W-Well, I'm, uh...I'm going to return to work, you know...I'm the Royal Scientist and all, after all...” she seemed suspicious, I needed to inquire further “And what do you do as the Royal Scientist? Surely something that benefits Asgore in some way...”

If she paled at the first question, the second one almost gave her a heart attack “I-I...I...uh...I-I...”

-No answer, huh?- I conversed with myself -If you won't talk, I will make you you slimy...-

“Frisk!” Asriel beckoned me “What are you doing over there? The elevator has arrived!” I squinted at the reptile, who was regaining her semi-composure after realizing Asriel had just saved her from getting her ass whipped.

“Listen, you little shit...” I said as I grabbed her coat and forced her to look at me in the eyes “I don't give a damn about what you do, but if I find out you helped my enemy in...whatever the hell could result in my death, I will make sure you visit Hell before I do.” I let her go and walked towards my group.

I don't know how did she look after I threatened her, but she surely didn't look too good: she was hiding something, and she wasn't good at hiding it either. Whatever it was, it had to be something big...but I didn't have the time to investigate, we needed to get going immediately.

 

When I got close enough to the elevator, a furry hand inside grabbed me and pulled me in without asking for my consent: that same hand then pressed a button on a nearby wall and then slapped me in the face “You better have a good enough excuse for being late, human!”

I would've massaged my face with my right hand...if I didn't use it to punch the goat in his stomach instead (now that he wasn't wearing a robe anymore, his muscular and yet soft belly was perfectly visible behind the shirt). I yelled at him, with the same tone he used “Didn't you realize, you fucking idiot, that Alphys was hiding something from us? I wanted to be sure I could trust her before I left, and thanks to you now I can't!” the door behind me close as I finished my rant.

He looked at the ceiling: his angry (and pained) expression shifted in a more sly, investigative one “Now that I think about it...” he turned towards me as he admitted “You could've been right, maybe investigating her could've been advantageous...but that would've meant losing more time, and we honestly can't afford it right now. So please, inform us, or at least me, before you do something on your own next time.”

After that was settled, we conversed about what to do next: Temmie remembered us “Alphys said that Mettaton could very well be preparing something, so I recommend maximum caution...even inside the elevator.” I looked around me, maybe there was some kind of device in the elevator he could be spying us through. An accurate research conducted by everyone in the elevator led to nothing, but the critter still advised “Be ready for anything.”

I readied my guns, just as Death readied his Mp5s that, once again, appeared from out of nowhere.

“Where do you keep those guns?” I asked him, as I pointed mine towards the ceiling.

“They are embedded in my Soul.” he explained, earning a surprised look from both me and Asriel “You know how all things can potentially be murder weapons?” I nodded and he continued “Well, if that's true, then I'm the guy who makes them become murder weapons. I absorb weapons of all kinds in my Soul, and by doing so I strengthen them with my own killing power: I am, literally, a living arsenal of advanced weaponry.” he observed carefully his sub-machine guns and finished his sentence “Another thing worth mentioning is that they don't require bullets anymore, since the bullets are made of hatred.”

“Bullets made of hatred?” Asriel looked at him closer, especially at his guns “This can only mean that these two bad boys are basically the manifestation of your Soul, am I correct?” he nodded, uninterested “I have never seen such a peculiar Soul...something this powerful can only be fueled by...” the prince squinted at him, both angry and suspicious “...An unquantifiable Level of Violence...”

The cat was about to answer something, but a bell's ring informed us that we had arrived at our destination: once the door opened, I exited first guns in hand, wary of everything that could be happening outside. Death followed me soon after, with Asriel closing the queue, ready to shoot with his jets of flames whatever could be outside.

But nobody came. We were surprised at first, then relieved.

The landscape wasn't too different, we were still surrounded by lava and geysers. The only thing that felt different was the floor, which wasn't made solely of rock anymore: a few wires emerged from the floor and sank back inside a few feet away. The utility of those wires wasn't very clear to me, but I was confident that I would've understood it sooner or later...hopefully before they did something bad.

“It's too quiet.” Temmie pointed out as she got up and scouted the area from above my head “Too quiet for Hotland's standards...”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“We're getting extremely close to New Home...” she explained “You would expect some kind of trap set by the King, wouldn't you? At least some resistance from the local monsters...but we haven't met anyone in five minutes, apart from those robots inside the Laboratory...” her speech was interrupted by a loud noise, coming from above us: it sounded like...a helicopter.

“Oh shit!” Death shouted in a way he never did before: was he...scared? “It's her!”

“Who are you talking about?” Asriel asked, alarmed.

“The only thing that's worse than Tsundereplane...” Felicity pointed upwards, a hundred feet or so away from us: a white and blue helicopter with...what looked like a school uniform painted on it's bodywork was approaching us at high speed; I was the last to notice the helicopter was carrying two big, dangerous Gatling guns on it's side, and that they were beginning to rotate at increasingly high speed “Yanderecopter!” Felicity managed to say the name of what looked like a nightmare become reality to both her and her feline friend.

“Run for your lives!” the black cat yelled as he ran in the other direction, followed close behind by everyone else.

“Senpai!” as I wondered how could a helicopter talk, she (at least I believe she was a female from the tone of her voice) yelled “Stop being near that edgy bitch! Come to your one true love, my Senpai!” was she referring to me? I wanted to turn back and shoot at her...but hearing the sound of bullets being shot at me at considerably high velocity made me decide otherwise.

The only ones that could fight back were Temmie and Felicity, since they weren't running with us and were, instead, sitting above my and Death's heads: while the cat chose not to do anything, since it “went against her principles”, Temmie prepared her Chicago Thompson and began shooting against the incoming bullets, deviating them. I wondered how did that gun work, there was no way a normal gun could shoot golden coins...was it a real gun? She didn't keep it in her pocket, so I figured out it was some kind of magic of hers, which seemed to revolve around money in general.

“Senpai! I love you!” the helicopter was slowly getting closer and closer, and I could feel Temmie was getting tired of deflecting all those bullets: that monster had to reload sometime soon...right?

“Hey, take this!” Death grabbed Felicity from atop his head and tossed her to Asriel, which almost tripped in order to grab her mid-air “What the hell? What do you want to do?” the prince asked, confused and angered.  
“I will distract her! Keep on going, I will reach you once she focuses on me!” he stopped running and began shouting at the flying...monster...whatever she was “Hey! I'm right here! Come get me!” I kept on running as I looked behind me: the monster completely ignored the cat, which could only stare at her infuriated as she screamed “Asriel-Senpai! Stop running, or I will kill you!”

I heard something from right in front of me: Death had somehow...teleported a few feet away from us and was preparing something. His white demonic wings spread through his coat: he flied backwards as he shot at the incoming monster with his two guns “Infame! Figlia di puttana!” I didn't understand what he said fully, but I guess the overall meaning was quite clear. He eventually switched those two weapons for one, bigger machine gun “Get set to get rekt, you bitch!”

As I ran, I noticed a...somewhat big building right in front of us: it looked like a normal house, with pink walls and a red roof. The perfect place to hide from that thing who was pursuing us. She would've never dared to break through the walls...I thought. I alerted the others about the building.

“We have a way out!” Asriel repeated the concept “Everyone, get inside!”

Death seemed annoyed by the fact that he couldn't shoot at the monster anymore, but he accepted the order nonetheless: he arrived to the door first and opened it for everyone else. As soon as I entered, I got grabbed by robotic tentacles and engulfed in a tight grip “There you go, nice and settled!”

-Just great, captured by the effeminate robot...- I hated myself for lowering my guard, especially in such a dire situation. Everyone got captured...except Death, who entered last: he managed to avoid all the tentacles, and even gun down a few of them. He then approached the robot and moved him a few inches away, towards us: the helicopter crashed through the wall, making me jump. If he hadn't moved Mettaton, the android wouldn't have survived “I don't get it, why did you...”  
“Because I'm bound by a contract, that's why.” the cat answered as he walked towards another room “Now let's get this over with, I'm tired of _his_ shenanigans...” who was he talking about, I wondered?

I didn't have the time to ask him that, as my mouth and eyes got covered by more metallic tentacles.

  
A minute later the appendages were removed and I reacquired vision and word: I was still bound, but to an armchair; at first, I thought I had been captured by the King or some subordinate of his, a suspicion that became more and more likely as I spotted all my other companions bound to similar-looking armchairs forming a pentagon...Asriel was directly at my right, followed by Temmie, Death and Felicity. Temmie and Felicity's armchairs were smaller, but they weren't any less bound than we were.

“Welcome, darlings, to Mettaton's Fantastic Family Show!” of course it had to be him, I recalled he was the one who captured us in the first place...suddenly, I realized he changed the name of his own show.

Meanwhile, I looked around the room: the only light was right on top of us, an odd-looking lamp that hanged from the ceiling, but apart from that and from the armchairs we were bound to, there was literally nothing in the room. I couldn't see any exits, maybe the door was right behind me and I just couldn't see it.

Mettaton walked right in the middle of the pentagon and announced “Today, we're introducing a new format: Mettaton's fabulous trivia quiz!”

“Both of those names suck.” Death told him, calm as always “You suck at naming names, even more than Asgore himself.” I recalled Asriel mentioning his father wasn't good at naming things, which meant that Death's insult was one of the worst category.

Mettaton squinted at him, then looked to the corner of the room: Blooky (or was his name Napstabot?) was giving him a thumbs-up as he filmed him with what looked like a next-gen camera. The red robot smiled maliciously as he announced “The rules of the quiz are simple: answer my questions...” he laughed madly as he finished “...Or you die! Hahahahahaha!”

“Wake me up when it's all over.” Death asked as he began sleeping on the armchair, uncaring about what the android had just said. Mettaton looked displeased, but he used the opportunity to explain “If you answer incorrectly or you decide not to answer, I will electrocute you to death! Observe...” he pulled a remote control from...somewhere behind him and pressed a button: I expected the cat to yell in pain or something...but nothing happened.

“...What?” the robot was left puzzled “Blooky, is that chair working?” the other android checked something behind the chair and answered “Yes, it is: a hundred-thousand watts of electricity, just as you requested Mettaton. And I can tell for sure that the subject is still breathing...”

Mettaton was about to say something, but he decided not to talk and to massage his front instead “Whatever, we'll invent something later...for now, let's just focus on the stars of the show!” he pulled a paper from who-knows-where and asked the white cat “So, the first question is for you, miss...”

“Felicity.” she calmly answered.

“Sure thing...now, let's see...what is your...relevance to the plot? What kind of question is that? I never wrote this!”

“I did.” I heard Karma right above me, dancing atop my head; the robot turned towards him and demanded who he was and what he wanted: he answered only the latter “Your show sucks and, since I do care about the views, I'm trying to spice it up a little bit. Trust me, ask those questions and you'll become Top Kek in no time.” he then muttered something to himself, making sure that nobody except me could hear him “I hope I used that meme right...”

“Well, I don't think I'm that much useful...” Felicity lowered her gaze and added “I mean, I'm not as cool as Frisk...or as badass as Death or Asriel...everyone here just wants to kill each other, so...I'm practically useless...”

“Absolutely right!” Mettaton applauded her honesty.

“You're wrong!” Asriel shouted “You helped me before! If it weren't for you, I would still be-”

“You would still be?” Mettaton looked like a hyena, desperate for some juicy information; Asriel decided not to tell him and continued “There's still a lot I don't know about you...but, if there's one person in this room that should be depressed, it's certainly not you!”

“You know, this would be very cute and all...if we weren't trying to murder people through ridiculously personal questions!” Mettaton moved on to Temmie, who didn't notice him at first “How's it like to be the daughter of a...mafia queen? Oh my, this is incredibly interesting...”

Temmie hesitated a bit before answering, determined “I am the daughter of no-one but myself! I grew surrounded by idiots, I alone became the best! I don't care who my parents are, I don't care who my siblings are, they never saw me as anything more than a tool and I will never see them as anything more than scum!” she exhaled, inhaled and then added “So yeah, it's not that big of a deal.”

“Fantastic!” he moved on to Asriel “So, Lord Asriel...”

“Drop the “Lord” thing, I'm excommunicated, remember?” Asriel wasn't very happy, but neither was anyone else in the room.  
“What an amazing answer! Too bad it's not the right one to this question...” he posed dramatically before asking, in the stupidest way possible “What are you going to do once you become king?” good thing Asriel wasn't drinking any water, because he would've spitted it all over Mettaton's face “E-Excuse me? What do you mean by that? I will never become king, so that question makes no sense!” the android turned to Karma, who was still slacking off right above me: the yin-yang cat turned to Asriel and asked, singing “Why the fuck you lyin'? Why you always lyin'? Mmmmhh oh my God, stop, fucking lyin'!” Asriel blushed as he tried to form a cohesive answer “Well, I would...uh...” he finally regained his composure and found a good way to express the concept “If I will ever become the king, I would treat my people much better: I have seen rotten houses, destroyed cities, horrendous governors...the system my father created does not work at all! If I will ever become the king, I...I would make things right!” he looked away, a bit ashamed “I admit, I hate having responsibilities and all...and frankly, I do not give a damn about people's lives and all...but someone has to do it and, if my father will not, I will bear this burden with honor and pride.”

Everyone who could move their hands in the room clapped their hands at the answer...though I have a feeling Mettaton was being sarcastic “What an excellent answer! Everyone will love it!”

“They do!” Blooky pulled a phone out of his jeans' pocket “The ratings are skyrocketing! This answer alone has made your channel the most viewed one in the history of television!” was he talking about television in general or simply the one in the Underground, I wondered?

“Amazing! We have to go deeper though!” the android smirked as he announced malicious “And I have the perfect question for that!” he approached me, and I gulped: he surely had something nasty for me.

“Who do you have a crush on?” he spelled every letter like it were the most complicated thing ever, resulting in my heart beating a hundred times faster than it normally should.

-Oh God, what do I say now? I don't know what to answer...but if I answer incorrectly, I die! What should I say...-

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's today's Strawpoll! (IT HAS THE MOST OPTIONS I'VE EVER PUT IN A STRAWPOLL LOL)  
> http://www.strawpoll.me/10171279
> 
> So yeah, choose the one you think she's infatuated of. There's only one real answer, all the others are there just to cause something stupid to happen if they win.  
> This decision won't alter the plot too much, and it's only intended to be a joke.
> 
> (P.S. leave a kudo if you sang "Why the fuck you lyin'?" as you read it. =3)


	23. Hotland: Nonsense

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I gave the "right" answer and I managed to escape together with everyone else.  
> The more I kept going on, the stupider my adventure became...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, you know what? This isn't even looking like Underfell anymore in my opinion.  
> I mean, yeah, the grim story is there...but I'm suffocating it with too much humor and bad jokes...but it's still pretty good, don't you think?  
> Either way, school is ending for me, which means that in a few weeks I'll be mostly free to do whatever the hell I want. Until then...I'll be too tired to upload constantly, so please forgive me if I can't regularly upload once or twice.  
> Enjoy!
> 
> Oh, and if there are grammar issues, please point them out because I'm tired and I don't want to re-read. Sorry. =/

_[CHOOSE: Asriel]_

 

To answer wrongly would've meant death, not answering would've led to the same results...it seemed like the only way I could've got out of that shitty situation was to admit my feelings for someone. The problem was that I didn't prove anything for anyone...at least I didn't believe I did.

Without a better plan in mind, and without thinking twice about it either, I shouted the first name that came to mind “Asriel Dreemurr!”

I remember the following few seconds as the most empty instants of my life. I never realized how...oppressing silence was until then: nobody could talk because everyone was...paralyzed, incapable to even think; Asriel was shocked more than anyone else, he couldn't believe what he had just heard.

I braced myself for the inevitable death that awaited me.

But it didn't come.

“Oh my...” Mettaton wasn't speechless as him though “That was unexpected...”

“What do you mean, “unexpected”?” Death seemed to have finally woke up, despite the show being still in-progress “Everyone saw that coming from a mile away.” were they really taking me seriously?

“H-Hey! I'm not really in love with him! I was just joking! Your machine must have malfunctioned!” I yelled, uncaring of my own well-being.

“Machines never fail, darling.” the android posed dramatically “That was a sincere confession! You, human, are deeply in love with the Prince of monsterkind, Asriel Dreemurr!”

“Mettaton, come look at this!” Blooky showed him his smartphone “The views are skyrocketing! Your mailbox is already full of messages from fans! We've never made so much money in-” the phone exploded in tiny bits; a similar-looking explosion, except the blast was bigger and much, much louder, was heard in a nearby room.

“They crashed the servers!” despite the meaning of that phrase, the red automaton was quite joyous “That can only mean one thing: I'm fucking rich!” he rushed to the other room, his friend following suit.

We were now alone in that room, and I was pleased with that: that was the perfect opportunity to escape, and I wasn't going to waste it. I tried to free myself, to no avail: the metallic ropes were tight and hard, there was no way I was going to break them from the inside.

“Well, it seems as though they've forgotten I'm here.” Karma pointed out as he jumped off my head, smirking “Would be a shame if someone freed these poor souls, wouldn't it?”

“Free us, immediately!” Asriel yelled at him as quietly as he could, making sure the robots in the other room weren't alerted; the cat nodded and explicated “There's no way you're going to free yourselves...unless Death stops being a lazy fuck and decides to do something.” he squinted at the black cat who simply answered, uninterested“Whatever, I'm tired. Do something yourself, will you?”

The yin-yang cat sighed “Wow, someone who's even lazier than me. Well, if I really have to...” he turned towards me and punched the air in front of him a hundred times or so, at an impressive speed “Paws of Fury!” in an instant, the ropes blocking me were reduced to nothing; I didn't know Karma could fight as well, and I was actually quite impressed by how powerful he was despite his small stature...unlike Death who was barely controlling his laughter “Did you really have to do that?”  
“Of course I had to!” Karma looked offended “I was waiting for the right moment to make a Yo-Kai Watch reference: that was the perfect one!” he then turned towards me and whispered evilly “Anyway, that wasn't my “real” special attack. Sorry for anyone who believed it was.” who was he talking to, I wondered? Surely not me. He chuckled and disappeared, much to my relief: I always felt...uncomfortable around him.

 

I freed everyone else with my guns, which were never stolen by those two idiots: again, everything seemed too much easy. That made me think: what if everything was just staged? I mean, those two were obviously taking advantage of me in some way: it was possible they let me go on purpose just for “entertainment purposes” or something. It was a remote possibility, but...maybe those two were a lot smarter than I originally thought, especially the blue one: I wonder how Mettaton would've fared without Blooky's support.

As we walked out of that building, Asriel approached me “Did you really have to admit it was a lie?”

“What?” did he mean that he suddenly changed his mind and believed I wasn't telling the truth before?

“I am proud of you, you found out what Mettaton wanted in a few instants.” he chuckled as he admitted “I lied as well, I do not actually plan on “making things right”: I do not have any interest in becoming the King, but that was what they wanted me to say so...” he shook his head as he added “So, why did you have to admit you were lying if there was no need to? Thankfully, no-one believed you...” he kept on mumbling stuff to himself.

Was he saying the truth, that what I said wasn't important as long as it pleased the public? It would've made sense, considering that I lied before...or did I? Because, from the looks of it, Asriel was still blushing a bit; I touched my cheeks, just to be sure, and found out I was blushing as well. Did Asriel congratulate me because he needed to convince me...or because he needed to convince himself?

“Heya.” I heard a grave voice coming from my right: when I turned, I saw Sans the skeleton sitting behind one of those sentry posts that were all over the place in Snowland, chewing a Hot-Dog without opening his mouth (how could he even do that?). He looked calm, maybe slightly annoyed, and he decided not to look at me directly as he spoke “'S been a while, hasn't it?”

-How could I not see this sentry post before?- I wondered, suspicious -I'm pretty sure I didn't, in fact-

“What do you want from me again?” I asked, irritated.

“Heh, ya act like a hero...but ya've still got the _chara_ cter of a villain...” the way he pronounced the word “chara” in “character” gave me the chills “How long are ya going to play pretend 'till you show everyone _what_ ya truly are?”

I didn't like how he was referring to me at all: what was he talking about? The images I saw when I was unconscious in Waterfall flashed before my eyes, despite seemingly being no correlation between them and what the skeleton was saying: that was only a dream, a nightmare to be precise...wasn't it? My head hurt, I think I had a headache and I was sure it wasn't random “Ya think ya're the only one who remembers? Because I'll _never_ forget what ya did.” he waved at me almost amicably as he disappeared along with his post.

“What was he talking about?” Temmie asked me from atop my head. I couldn't answer...Asriel looked away, pretending not to have heard anything: perhaps he simply wasn't in the right mood to deal with Sans' shenanigans, but...I felt like there was something more, like he knew something I didn't “Let's keep moving, we do not have all day...” he said, impatient.

I approached Death and asked him “Do you know what that guy was talking about?”

“Of course I do.” I faced him, incredulous “But, well...I can't say anything. Because...you know...spoilers.” I wanted to punch him in the face: did he really think he could scare me like that and then get away with it? From the looks of it, he did; I chose to let that one slide, he was still a friend, after all...an ally to be more precise. Making him an ally would've been equivalent to suiciding.

 

We eventually reached another elevator, and we chose to use this one as well “Mettaton didn't attack us last time we used one, why would he now?” Felicity was too optimistic for my tastes “Come on, let's ride it!” and too happy as well. Why did everyone have to enjoy themselves except me?

We all entered the elevator and the prince pressed the button that led to the uppermost floor: a far too familiar voice spoke on the intercom “Karma Enterprises proudly presents...” from the very second he began talking, I knew I wouldn't have liked it “Radio Cancer! The radio that brings you the most cancerous music of the moment!” what did he mean with “cancerous”, I wondered?

“For fuck's sake...” Death protested “I hate that kind of music.”

“Today, we'll be playing the song that replaced “Darude – Sandstorm” as the most spammed music ever: “Noma – Brain Power”!”

“No, wait...I never heard that one: does it even exist?” Felicity did not seem to recognize that particular track...but how could she know it didn't exist, was she some kind of music expert or something? Turned out she actually was, much later on.

“Not here...not yet. Anyway, enjoy!” Karma stopped talking and a random teenager began singing “LET THE BASS KICK O-oooooooooo AAAAE-A-A-I-A-U- JO-oooooooooooo AAE-O-A-A-U-U-A- E-eee-ee-eee AAAAE-A-E-I-E-A- JO-ooo-oo-oo-oo EEEEO-A-AAA-AAAA” oh my God, that was so painful! It looked like a teenager had just learned how to spell...and to synthesize music, apparently. Thankfully, I wasn't the only one who disliked that kind of music: Temmie and Asriel bombarded the intercom with coins and flames until it stopped working, much to our relief. The elevator doors opened soon after: we all ran out of it as fast as we possibly could.

“Welcome back, darlings!” Mettaton leered at us maliciously from a distance “You fell right in my trap, like flies drawn by the light!” Blooky was right next to him, looking as calm and...almost unhappy “Mettaton, I-I think it's supposed to be “like moths drawn by the light”...” he whispered as low as he could...but somehow, we still heard him.

The red robot was quite angry with the blue one “Blooky! How many times have I told you not to shame me in public!” the other one looked surprised, sorry and timorous as the automaton continued “I'm trying really hard to make this show work, and yet you keep trying to distract me! I'm seriously reconsidering ever giving you a body in the first place!” a body...wait, a body?

Something snapped in my mind: Napsta-bot, Blooky...Napstablook! The white and blue ghost that I met in the Ruins the day before! Now it all made sense: when he spoke about letting a friend help him, he referred to Mettaton...that could only mean, furthermore, that Mettaton was Napstablook's cousin!

However, there was one discrepancy: Napstablook described his cousin as...someone good, at least somewhat good, while the robot in front of me clearly wasn't nice to his friend at all “You aren't good at doing anything! Without me, you're nothing!”

“Shut up!” I yelled at him “If you want to be angry at someone, be angry at me! He doesn't deserve it!” the two automatons turned towards me: Blooky's gaze was a mix of surprise, awe and thankfulness...the red one's, however, was full of hatred and despise “You should be the one being quiet! You don't know how many sacrifices I made in order to get where I am now!”

“And you don't know how many sacrifices he made to get you where you are now!” I was shooting blindly, but I needed some kind of surface to attach me to “If you want to fight, then fight me and be done with it! I will shred you to pieces!” I yelled at him angrily.

“Fine! I will show you what happens when you-”

“Mettaton...” the red robot looked furious at his cousin for interrupting him “...Sorry...it's just that...you had other plans, didn't you?” when Blooky mentioned “other plans”, the other android's expression shifted into one of...I don't know, forgetfulness, perhaps?

“Oh, that's right! I almost forgot! It's all your fault Napstabot!” he snapped his finger and some cameras emerged from the ground right next to him “Welcome back, darlings, to Mettaton's Beautiful Reality Show!” the robot's horrible demeanor could only be matched by his inability to pick good names for his show “Today's special guests are, yet again, the prince of monsterkind himself, Asriel Dreemurr, and the human who managed to get all the way to Hotland...uh...” he squinted at me, a bit embarrassed “What's your name again?”

“Frisk.” I simply answered, a bit annoyed.

“Of course, Frick!” screw mercy and all that shit: I wanted to murder that guy in cold blood...except he was a robot, and he didn't bleed. But I was still going to kill him!

“What did he mean with “reality show”?” Temmie inquired.

“Despite the name, it's actually an educative program!” Mettaton posed dramatically...seriously, he needed to stop doing that “It'll show our beloved viewers...how a human dies in real life!” he then proceeded to explain the rules of the show “The floor between us, which is approximately twenty or so feet long, is actually covered in mines! And, more importantly, they're invisible! There's only one way to get to the other side...without blowing up! Mwahahahah!” what an evil (and gay) laugh...

He grabbed a remote from his back and pressed a button, explaining that it would've activated the bombs: the floor between us lighted, hundreds...maybe thousands of red lights emerged from the ground.

“W-What is the meaning of this?” Mettaton turned to Napstablook “Blooky!”

“S-Sorry...” the robot couldn't control himself anymore, he was literally crying through his body's metal “I was scared you could've walked on a mine accidentally...so I added a light to all of them to let you know where you needn't to go...”

“This is such a huge mess!” the red android grabbed his hair with his metal hands “The entire show is ruined! She'll never die if she knows where the bombs are!” I wasn't so sure, actually: the floor was covered by red lights, I couldn't step anywhere without...well, dying. I didn't want to imagine my armless, legless...maybe breast-less body lying in a mine field.

“Should I use my “Spinning Bird Kick”?” I wondered aloud.

“I don't think there's any need for that.” Asriel smirked as he ordered “Plug your ears! This will be rather loud...” I did as he asked and stepped back from the mine field: I perfectly knew what he was going to do. He summoned a tiny black flame, as little as a candle's, on his right index finger: despite the flame was hungrily burning his digit, it didn't look like it was actually hurting him at all. The goat pointed his finger at the closest bomb and whispered something before shooting the flame at it (he even shaped his hand like a gun, to look cooler while doing it, I guess): the bomb exploded, causing a chain-reaction that destroyed in a few seconds the entire minefield.

“Completely...ruined...” the red robot was quite angry “You completely ruined my show! Do you even realize how much money I spent on those mines? A lot!”

“Actually, Mettaton...” Blooky was too scared to even talk to his friend.

“What is it now, Blooky?” he stared at his cousin like a predator would to his prey.

“The...the episode was a success...everyone is liking the show so far...you're getting a lot of money too...” he handed him another smartphone, clearly different from the one that got destroyed a while back: the automaton couldn't believe what he was seeing “Oh my God, there's no way...” he turned to his cousin, hopeful “We need to devise a new program! Something everyone will like! Something everyone will remember...forever! Something...where that bitch finally dies!” he turned at me, a challenging look on his face “You're making me one of the richest personalities in the whole Underground, Frick and Asriel...but everything has to end eventually! Soon, I will harvest both your Souls, and I will look cool while doing it! Mwahahahah!” he grabbed his cousin by the neck and forced him to run with me; before disappearing from my sight, Blooky managed to look at me in the eyes and formed a few words with his metal lips: “Thank you for helping me.” that's what he probably meant...I think. At least, that's what I wanted to believe he said.

“What the hell are we doing? Why are we letting them escape?” Asriel looked furious “Those two are unbearable! I cannot tolerate them anymore! Let's find them and destroy them once and for all!”

“A-Asriel, please, calm down!” Felicity tried to cool him down, to no avail “I am tired of dealing with everyone's bullshit! I want to find those two idiots and get rid of them once and for all! Why are we even letting them live in the first place? They are trying to kill us, just like everyone else is!” he turned to me, expecting me to say something: I was unsure whether to fulfill his wish...or to let those two do whatever they wanted to in peace...for now, at least.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's today's Strawpoll!  
> http://www.strawpoll.me/10202956
> 
> Anyway, don't worry guys: we're slowly getting to the more brutal, cruel and sad part of the entire fic.  
> So, those of you who came specifically for that, get hyped! We might already begin with the next chapter...


	24. Muffet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As we chased the two robots, we stumbled into a huge cave.  
> There, I faced another tremendous opponent...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, you can pretty much figure out when I'm inspired and when I'm not. =3  
> If only I put so much effort in everything I did...at least, in every chapter I write!  
> Because let me tell you, writing a fic in a foreign language isn't as fun and easy as I originally envisioned it. =/  
> Either way, enjoy your reading!

_[ACT: Pursue]_

 

I was getting extremely tired of those two robots, they had mocked me and took advantage of me for too long: it was about time I showed them what happened to everyone who dared to mess with me. I didn't understand what was wrong with Napstablook, though: I thought we were friends...at least, it seemed we had reached an agreement after we ended our battle in the Ruins...but then again, I was still ignorant about the Underground's denizens and rules the day before, so maybe I misunderstood him or something. Nevertheless, I had a feeling that Mettaton played a substantial role in Napstablook's change of attitude, and I was going to verify it as soon as I could.  
I communicated to the rest of the group my intentions: pursue the two robots and defeat them before they could pull another one of their tricks on us. Asriel was ecstatic “Do you honestly finally agree with me on something? I thought I would have never seen the day!” ironic as usual, but not completely: he was truly grateful to me for allowing him to get what he wanted.

“Let's go then.” Death beckoned us “If we start chasing them right now, we might just get to them before we get to... _her_...” he shivered, but he was only being half-serious from the looks of it; still, I wondered who this woman he was talking about was...certainly, the black cat had an extensive knowledge of the Underground and on all of the events that could've happened in it. If something made him shiver, I thought, it must have been because he believed that thing to be dangerous...or, more likely, tremendously annoying.

 

We ran in the direction the two androids had disappeared at, but we never found them: instead, we found yet another elevator, which scared us all to death “Once we get inside, we destroy the intercom just to be sure.” Temmie suggested. We all agreed to the proposal. A few bullets of my guns were enough to shut that thing up for the totality of the ride.

Once we exited the elevator, we found ourselves in a different-looking area: the ground was made out of...metal, it seemed, and we weren't as close to the flowing magma as we were down below. The air was much fresher, but it was still very hot. Overall, the place looked to me like a construction site...except there were no works in progress.

We were at a crossroad, so we were unsure of where to go...until Felicity shouted “I know where to go!” Felicity pointed to the road on our right from atop of Death's head “Over there! I'm sure they must have took this road!” as we ran down that path, Asriel asked her “How can you be so sure? How do you know they must have gone this way?”

“I know because...interesting things are over there!” she explained, careful not to give away too much information “So that's probably where we need to go.” her reasoning was correct, in my opinion: since Mettaton acted as the announcer of some kind of sick TV show, he had to be attracted to interesting things...that could only mean that, before I could get rid of him, I would've had to deal with another one of his traps.

After a few minutes of sprinting seemingly aimlessly, we reached some sort of cave: at least, it looked like one since the atmosphere was much different from that of the previous area. It looked spooky and intimidating...but I wasn't particularly impressed.

“Yeah, this is the place.” Death sighed “Let's get this over with as soon as we can...” I tried to ignore the cat's comment (Asriel and Temmie did so as well) and entered the cavern.

The first thing I noticed was the temperature, which was even fresher than in the previous area: there was no magma flowing or anything that could've caused heat...or light, for that matter. Seriously, there weren't any light sources in that damn place: I had to ask Asriel to show us the way by using his flames.

He summoned one of his dark, gloomy blazes, and that let us see at least what we were walking on: cobwebs. Cobwebs...everywhere: the floor, the walls, even the ceiling...the place was full of those, or so it looked like.

Asriel was a bit upset by the fact that he would've had to walk on spiderwebs, as he was barefoot and consequentially he would've felt them move, break and get stuck in his feet...Temmie, however, had a completely different reason to be upset, or at least suspicious “There's something...weird about this place: I feel like I'm forgetting about something important. Everyone, be prepared for anything: I feel like there's something we should be afraid of in this cave.” she readied her machine-gun and looked everywhere, trying to figure out where that thing she was so afraid of...and that Death knew in anticipation was there could've come from. Surely, it wouldn't have let us get away without at least greeting us personally...

“Oh my, what do we have here?” a feminine voice came from the other side of the cave, on our left “A human, two monsters and two... _things_. My, we haven't had this many visitors in ages!”

“That voice...” Temmie was desperately trying to recall that monster “It's...her, I think! Muffet!” who was this monster she was speaking off, I wondered?

The cavern's central area got illuminated by something shining from above: in the middle of the cave stood a spider-like monster, as tall as me but much skinnier. Her skin was deep purple, her hair was as black as the darkness of that place itself and it was tied by a purple ribbon...what impressed me the most were her eyes: not only were they of an unsettling bright yellow...but they were five, something that scared me a bit for some reason. She wore a long purple, black and pink dress that reminded me of an old scholar's uniform of some kind...it looked pretty cute on her, especially with all those small black ribbons tied to the dress in various locations; at least it diverted my attention from her...physiology.

“You are a renegade...but you do still remember the name of one of your competitors...” the spider-lady slowly moved towards us, as if every step of her was a dance move “I'm surprised...especially considering we never met before...personally.” she tried to contain the chuckle by covering her small fanged mouth with her right hand “...Then again, if we did meet...you would have probably died, so that explains why I never had the pleasure to invite you for...tea...” she chuckled once more, but this time she found it more difficult to control herself.

Something about her laugh...no, something about her as a whole gave me the impression that she was much older than she may have looked: to be honest, I was having a hard time figuring out her exact age, since her body was so slender and small...and her voice so croaky and yet feminine.

“Temmie, could you please explain to us who is this fine woman?” the goat squinted at Muffet: was he seriously flirting with her...or was that a joke as well? She took it seriously, or so it seemed, but I was incline to believe it was the latter.

“She's the leader of one of the most powerful criminal association in the whole Underground...after my family's, that is...” the critter's gaze was as sharp as a blade's “...Muffet Arachnopos, leader of the spider mafia.”

“Really? How many criminal organizations are there in the Underground?” I asked, annoyed “And why are you so scared? She doesn't even look that powerful!”

“My, are you being honest?” she looked surprised by my opinion “That's not good: humans are supposed to be afraid of spiders...especially young ladies like you...” who did she think I was, I thought angrily, a toddler? Of course, I was scared of heights...but that was the only fear that I possessed that I could think of...other than that of dying before reaching my goal, that is. However, I didn't think that could be considered a real fear: rather, I thought of it as an innate repulsion for death shared by all living beings. To not be afraid of death...was that even possible, I wondered?

“I'm afraid of a lot of things...” I lied, but I still tried to look as imposing as possible “...But I'll never be afraid of an old hag like you! Now move bitch, before I make you get the fuck outta my way!” that insult surely caused a reaction: I saw something move right behind her...

Before, I believed she only had one pair of arms and hands, but I had clearly miscalculated: she had the astounding amount of six arms, three on both of her sides, two of them holding small old-looking pistols, two holding sharp knives and two of them not holding anything at all. If I had any hope I could've avoided an unnecessary fight, by now I was sure: I was destined to fight literally _everyone_ that I fucking encountered. Every-fucking-one.

“Well then, if you aren't afraid of spiders...” she cracked her two free hands and her neck, devoid of all emotions “...Then I will make you!” she snapped her finger: two webs were shot at us at near-supersonic speed from behind Muffet. While Death (and consequentially Felicity) managed to avoid the webbing lances, me and Asriel weren't so fortunate: we got hit by the webs, which then retreated at an equally fast speed and got us much closer to the spider-lady than I would've been comfortable with. I then heard something coming from above me...and from my sides as well: giant spider-like monsters were crawling down the walls, jumping down from the ceiling, surrounding both us and our feline friends.

“My main strategy is the immortal “Divide and Conquer”...” the lady explained “Now, normally I would ask my “visitor” everything they possess, and after an accurate evaluation of their belongings I would decide whether to take their lives as well or not...” she chuckled as she toyed with her knives “...But I already know you don't possess anything to begin with, so that answers the question.” she leered at me...with all of her creepy motherfucking eyes “...You will never leave this cave alive.”

“You know what I hate more than small talk?” I asked, sarcastic “Idiots like you who make it and aren't even good at making it! Shut the fuck up and come at me, if you dare!” I taunted her the best I could...now that I think about it, maybe that wasn't a wise decision at all.

“My spiders, attack! Bring me her head on a silver plate!” she commanded her troops, which obediently charged at me and Asriel like the mindless monsters they were.

"It's time to be bad!"

I shot at everything that dared enter my cone of vision, but the spiders were coming from all directions so I knew that I would've needed to change my tactic soon: at first I wanted to use my “Spinning Bird Kick” to clear them all out...but that would've put me in a disadvantage against the spider-lady since that move always took a lot out of me. Thinking about how to cleave down such a massive horde without using that move...gave me an idea on another technique, fairly similar: I ordered Asriel, who was busy attacking the spiders with his own moves, to stand down for a second, which he did. I then proceeded to execute my plan: I stood on my hands and spread my legs at an a hundred-eighty degrees angle and rotated clockwise as fast as my arms could afford to, shooting at everything around me with the help of my leg-guns. While it did still cost me a considerable amount of energy to perform, that technique let me cleave down a lot of those gigantic spiders without tiring my legs too much: that was important since I needed the strength in my legs to avoid the monster's attacks. Now, I would've probably begun attacking the main villain...if only more of those things didn't keep charging at me from all directions; it was almost as if there were a lifetime supply of them.

“I will take care of them.” Asriel assured me, confident “While I protect you from these things, you get rid of that Muffet or whatever...” he then proceeded to cut down one by one all those crawlers by using his flames: I noticed that none of the spiders he hit turned to dust, which meant that Asriel wasn't unleashing his full potential...maybe Chara was helping him, controlling him, knowing that I would've solved the issue at hand without spilling any blood...or dust, in this case...

As I approached the spider confident and determined to win, I heard Temmie jumping on top of me from below: thankfully she had jumped off of me before I used that spinning technique, else her head would've been squashed by now. I was about to order the old woman to surrender, but she turned down the offer before I could even make it: she shot her twin pistols at me, which I discovered were capable of shooting only one, fast, devastating huge shot, and I replied by shooting my own guns at her as I avoided the bullets. She quickly reloaded using her free hands and kept playing with me that deadly game in which the first one to hit the other would've won.

“May I tell you something, little one?” she asked Temmie, who was awfully quiet over my head “I don't actually plan on killing you: in fact, I was wondering how much your relatives would pay to have you back...safe and sound.” she chuckled once more as she avoided my projectiles with grace “I bet they would find it humiliating, to be delivered your own traitorous daughter by a rival faction's leader!”

I was unsure whether she was more angered at me...or at Temmie, who wasn't even asking for her attentions; as I pondered in my head about these silly questions, a bullet of hers got extremely close to my face...thankfully, Temmie managed to save me at the last possible second by unloading her entire magazine on the incoming bullet. She then recharged her weapon as fast as she possibly could and answered, ironic “Funny, I was thinking something similar as well: how much would my family pay me to have you delivered to them...safe and sound.” she mimicked Muffet's tone almost perfectly, something that gave me the shivers “There's a reason, Miss Muffet, why my family is the most influential mafia in the whole Underground: we, unlike your clan, are resourceful.” she grabbed a single golden coin from her coat's pocket “...Extremely resourceful.”

She threw the coin in the air and caught it mid-air soon after: I don't know how she did it, but she caused a huge amount of coins to fall from the ceiling, right above the spider's head...the woman managed to avoid them, but to do so she had to make a step in my direction...a single, fatal step.

She entered melee range, so I slid under her and kicked her in the stomach with my right boot, sending her flying; then, I jumped towards her and performed an aerial combo using my fists, my kicks and my weapons, ultimately sending her all the way across the room; she eventually landed on the cobweb-infested floor of her own cavern.  
All the other spiders stopped attacking and looked at their mistress, beaten by a “young human lady” like me...and a Temmie: I ran up to her, grabbed her with my left hand from behind and pointed a gun at her head with my right one. Now I was sure she was done.

“Tell your friends to stop attacking us or your head will go around the world in eighty days!” I yelled at her, exhausted.

“Why eighty days? Do you realize that it makes the phrase overall less intimidating?” she asked me, slightly confused.

“Whatever! Tell them what I told you!”

The spider looked very disappointed, even from behind, as she announced her loss to the entirety of her clan “You can stop holding me, deary, I won't try anything funny.” she tried to convince me to release her.  
“I believe her.” Temmie told me “The spider clan is well-known for their honor: she won't attack you, I assure you.” feeling a little bit disappointed and annoyed while doing so, I let my enemy go without protesting: after all, that victory was all thanks to Temmie, so I felt like she needed to be the one to deal with the spider.

“It is with tremendous sadness and remorse that I admit defeat, human.” she said as she stood in front of me, bowed and then sat on her knees “So much sadness and remorse, in fact, that I cannot be allowed to keep on living. The spider clan needs a strong leader, one that won't lose to the first human she faces...” was she crying? Great, I thought, I made an old lady cry “So please, human, kill me: doing so, the honor and pride of my people will be restored.”

“Oh, yes! Come on, Frick, do it!” an annoyingly-excited robotic voice screamed from behind me: the two androids were recording me the whole time from a corner of the cave, ecstatic “We want to see real drama! Real violence! Real bloodshed! Come on, do it!” Mettaton wanted me to kill the spider real badly...but his cousin was unsure of what to say, he really didn't know what to ask me for.

I turned towards my companions: Death and Felicity had dealt with the spiders in the back all that time, but they weren't saying anything even though it was clear they would've loved to. Asriel would've probably wanted me to kill her, but he wasn't saying anything either so I turned to Temmie, whose eyes and gaze told me, indirectly “Do whatever you want.”

I looked at the monster, who was desperately trying to contain her crying, to no avail: deep down in my heart, I knew there was only one real answer.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's today's Strawpoll!  
> http://www.strawpoll.me/10231607
> 
> Also yay, the strawpolls are regaining attention! That's great!  
> Remember to write your opinion in the comment section below, it really helps me (to not feel like a forever alone T-T)!


	25. Hotland: Forbidden

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I decided to spare Muffet, then we resumed our pursuit of the two androids.  
> After getting myself in a very uncomfortable situation, I discovered...something about Asriel and Chara.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, this week surely was poor of uploads. Maybe a few of you might be a bit sad, but school isn't over yet in my country and this is actually the worst part of the year because there's at least one exam almost every day...it's pretty stressful!  
> So yeah, maybe uploads will be slow next week as well...but maybe, just maybe, it will be the last. So have patience, everyone, I'm doing all I can over here.
> 
> Oh, and once again the grammar might be a little bit off. Don't worry, I'll fix it sometime soon: it's just that "long chapter" + "stressful day" + "lazy af" = bad chapter. Sorry. =C

_[MERCY: Spare]_

 

I thought for a while about whether to spare the spider or not: if I chose indeed to spare her life, I would've shown the denizens of the Underground that I was determined not to kill anyone...I could've given them a message or something like that. However, my reason to spare the lady was much different: I simply...didn't feel like killing her, that's all. What purpose was there in random killing? What honor was there in executing a defenseless creature?

Despite knowing she would've reacted badly to my decision, I announced “I'm sorry, Miss Muffet, but I won't take your life, even if you're asking me to.”

She turned her gaze upwards and stared at me, her eyes full of hate “But why? I failed my clan, there's no reason for me to live! It would please me more to die in honor rather to live in dishonor.”

“What do you mean with “dishonor”?” I asked, not requesting an answer “I would agree with you if you ran away from battle, or if you didn't take our match seriously: instead, you fought 'till the very end and almost bested me.” I looked all around me: the giant spiders were whispering something inaudible between themselves “Look, I don't understand what those guys are saying...but I bet they're proud of you. They should be...no, they must be.” I lent her my hand “I am, for one.”

Time stopped for an instant: no-one dared to say anything. The silence was almost religious, everyone was waiting for Muffet to make a decision. She finally grabbed my hand and I lifted her up; she said, as elegantly as possible “Oh my, are all humans as...interesting as you are?” she chuckled before adding “You have convinced me, I will resume my role as the leader of the Spider Clan and...perhaps, even stop my criminal ways as well: I always wanted to open a bakery, after all!”

“Oh, come on!” Mettaton yelled at us “Where's the drama? Where's the bloodshed? I expected you to kill her for fuck's sake! I swear, you're the worst actor I've ever hired!”

“She is not your “actor”!” Asriel grabbed me by the shoulder with his right hand and pointed his left one at the android “She would be if I made the mistake of selling her to you...something I doubt I will ever do.” he summoned a black flame in his left hand and smirked “In fact, that reminds me...did we not all want to “talk” with these two idiots?”

“Of course we did.” Death appeared at my left “After we're done with them, may I use the red one's head as a soccer ball?” he was being ironic, but we all nodded our heads in approval.

Even Muffet and her spiders turned to the robot, who was now surrounded on all sides “Sorry deary, but I have chosen new business partners.” she smiled at him sarcastic.

“Mettaton, I think we should just retreat...” Blooky suggested his cousin; the robot approved the other robot's idea and they both fled the cave as fast as they could, taking advantage of a hole in the spider's formation. We needed to pursue them immediately, else we wouldn't have been able to catch up to them.

The spider-lady and her clutch waved us farewell (the best they could) and we proceeded towards...wherever those two idiots had fled to. As soon as we exited the cave, however, we got blocked by a familiar face “Why, hello there!” Karma, of course “I heard you beat Muffet! I'm so proud of you!” he then coughed and added “Not really but still...”

“Weren't you supposed to spectate my every fight?” I asked, annoyed “Because I didn't see you before...”

“Now that I think about it, you are right.” Asriel pointed out “There was no music in the background either...” did he really care about the music, I wondered? He probably didn't, he just wanted to mess with the cat.

“That is a good question!” the cat exclaimed “First off, I'm busy, okay? You probably think that I'm a background character or something like that, but I do a ton of work behind the scenes! Secondly...I didn't really feel like it.” he shrugged his shoulders “What can I say? I'm lazy, that's it.”

“Best defense ever.” Felicity commented.

“Rated Tem outta Tem.” Temmie added.

The cat laughed at the two critters' comments and replied “That's two memes down in one hit! Good job you two!” upon looking at my puzzled face he added “Look, I'm not supposed to tell you this...but I have a schedule to follow and a ton of memes to add to your journey: that “Intense MLG” tag won't justify itself on it's own.” he chuckled once more, but I didn't understand the humor “Anyway, I have to go now: as I said, I'm very busy. Smell ya later, losers!” he disappeared in another blind light.

We resumed our walk towards our objective as if none of what we saw and heard ever happened.

“Do you remember when, earlier today, I asked for an explanation to his weird...personality?” Asriel asked Death.

“Yes...” the cat spurred him to continue.

“Well, I am not sure I want it anymore.” the goat admitted “If simply hearing him makes my sanity slip away, I bet understanding him would do much worse.” the annihilation of Asriel's brain intrigued me...but maybe he was right: whatever truth was behind the cat's actions...wouldn't have been easy to comprehend, of that I was sure.

 

After around ten minutes of traveling, we reached a rocky hill: it looked like a building had been built on top of the small mount, as there were lights shining from on top and they looked artificial. Death and Felicity suspected the two robots had fled to that location and, without any other clue on which to base our investigation, me, Asriel and Temmie decided to trust their intuition once more...if we can call that “intuition”, of course.

We climbed to the top of the hill and we finally saw what kind of building we were standing in front of: a hotel, from the looks of it. Mettaton's shitty face was carved on the edifice's front facade: that alone convinced us he had to be nearby. Now, about the hotel itself: it was very high, at least twenty or so stories to be precise, and very modern as well, but the walls were cracked and overall it didn't look very good.

We entered the building: despite the horrible exterior, the interior was quite nice: the floor was covered by a clean red carpet and the walls, despite being the same as those outside, looked much more...stable than them. A fountain stood in the center of the main hall, which we had just entered, and a few monsters of all shapes and sizes were walking around seemingly aimlessly. They all looked grim and sad, but they were desperately trying not to show it.

Until one of them finally noticed us. He looked like a deep green dragon, rather small and bipedal: as soon as he noticed who we were he shouted to everyone present in the room “Hey, that over there is Prince Asriel Dreemurr!”

Everyone turned their gazes towards us: we were so embarrassed we didn't even try to defend ourselves from those harmless gazes. All monsters in the room run up to us like they were moths in the night, attracted by the soft light of a lamp or a candle. They were all asking questions, taking pictures with their phones...or whatever those devices were: for a moment, I felt like the most requested VIP in the whole Underground...Asriel was probably peeing his pants from the fear and the embarrassment.

“Is it true that you'll become king?” asked a small monster “Everyone keeps saying Mettaton invented it to make views...but that's not true, right?” that question caused a chain reaction, everyone was now asking the same question: will Asriel be the new King? Everyone's suspicions were correct, Asriel had lied about it...and yet, he couldn't bring himself to admit it: he was...almost scared of their reactions. I never saw him like that, scared of a few people's possible reactions.

Thankfully, a miracle occurred and the Prince was saved from that tough decision: a feminine...very sexy and attractive monster walked in front of Asriel, earning some whistles from a few other monsters in the hallway. Something about her walk, her smile, her attitude...she reminded me of a hooker.

Maybe because she was one “Hey, tough guy...” she said softly and sexily “Why don't you come to the Strip Club at the end of the hallway...so I can show you a few of my “moves”...” she left slowly, shaking that booty of hers.

*There's a motherfucking Strip Club inside this hotel?* I wondered, scandalized *What about kids? Does nobody care about potential kids in this hotel?* then, something else attracted my attention: now, call me a bitch or whatever the hell you want...but something about Asriel's reaction made me very suspicious. A very sexy bitch had just walked in front of him, she had invited him to...do certain things with him and yet...he didn't even look pleased with it.

“Excuse me?” I beckoned Asriel, who turned towards me “That girl just passed by and you didn't say anything! Doesn't the idea of there being a Strip Club inside of here...I don't know, excite you?”

“Absolutely not.” he answered, calm “Why should it? I am not interested in...that kind of things.” yeah, did he really expect me to believe him? Not even the gayest of men in his right mind would decline such an offer...unless he really _was_ the gayest of men.

Well, you know how I am: that was a riddle that needed an answer. I grabbed his paw and told him “See you in five minutes, Edgelord.”; as soon as I forced him to touch my front, I fell in a profound sleep...

 

“ _Hey, come back here!” I heard his voice behind me, but I didn't stop: “Come and get me...if you can!” I laughed as I goaded him. He chuckled as he replied “You're so dead...you're so fucking dead!”_

_I remember the last months I passed in the Underground as the best period of my entire life: never before I felt so...free, so unburdened, so...myself. It's funny, you know: I lived most of my life in solitude, I came to appreciate the silence as if it were a God...but now, I disliked silence more than anything else. I hated solitude, I hated being alone...I hated not being with Asriel._

_Asriel was the brother I never had: he was with me all day and all night, anywhere and everywhere. I should be thankful he spent the best time of his life with me: instead of studying hard to make his father proud, he passed all day playing with me...in a lot of ways; in due time, I learned to like each one of those methods._

_We were running in the Palace's Gardens once more: that place had become our “secret spot”, a place where we could be ourselves without ever being caught by suspecting servants or guards. What wasn't there to like about that place: the flowers were everywhere and they were all beautiful in their own way, the area was vast and looked limitless from the inside...and, it was “our” spot. No-one elses._

_Asriel's superior speed eventually allowed him to catch up to me: he grabbed me by the jacket...but the sudden stop made me trip and fall to the ground, taking him with me. He fell right on top of me to be precise._

“ _Ouch...” I whispered “That one hurt a little bit...” I felt a bruise on my right elbow, since I had used my right arm to protect myself from the fall, but apart from that I was fine; as for Asriel...I think my body shielded him from any damage he could've taken._

_Asriel was trying to catch his breath “You are...phew...getting better and better...phew...aren't you?” he asked, proud of me._

“ _I sure am...” I panted as I answered “But you're still much faster.”_

_He got up and turned me upside-down, then sat atop of me, precisely above my crotch “Can you feel it?” he asked, a bit estranged._

“ _What?” I inquired._

“ _I feel...something.” he simply answered: he pointed at his heart and continued “I feel...weird: my heart is beating fast but...I don't think it's because of the sprint I just did. It happens every other time we play together too.” he blushed as he admitted “At first, I thought I had gotten sick...but Mom told me there's no such sickness. Chara...is this how loving someone who is not a relative of yours feels like? How loving a friend feels like?”_

_I wasn't an expert on friendship...in fact, Asriel was the first real friend I had ever had: no-one, before him, had ever tried staying with me for so long, trying to comprehend me and...being there for me when I most needed it. Everyone before him...eventually left, one way or the other. However...I felt like I knew the answer Asriel was looking for: “I think so...I feel the same every time we play too.” I explained “And not only when we play: I feel like that every time we stay together...it's like you can feel your heart beat, your breath going in and out...and you can feel the other's beat and the other's breath too, right?” he nodded positively “Asriel, do you...”_

“ _What?”_

“ _...Do you love me, Asriel?” I asked him, my entire face getting red from the embarrassment._

“ _Uh, it depends...” he was blushing as well, maybe even more furiously than me “When you mean “love” you mean it in a platonic way or-” I grabbed him by the sweater and pulled him closer to me, then kissed him on the lips: it took him a good while before realizing what was happening, but when he did he kissed me back with the same sentiment I was kissing him with. We could've stayed like that for a whole day, a whole week, a whole month...and we wouldn't have cared._

_My friend finally got up: he had received too much love in one day, he couldn't bare our contact anymore. He started walking away, still as red as the color itself. I knew he would've made me pay for it...I, for one, looked forward to it._

 

As soon as I woke up, I got up and looked around me in search of Asriel; despite there being air conditioners in that...I wasn't sure if I could still call it a hotel anymore but whatever, I felt as hot as the magma flowing in Hotland's lava rivers. I had just seen something that was bound to remain stuck in my life forever, it felt like I had just watched a porn and got caught. Now, the vision wasn't pretty clear on what happened afterwards...but I believed that, after that kiss between the two, they had done much, _much_ worse thing together...

Just then I realized that all the monsters in the hall had...vanished: Asriel was standing a few feet in front of me, some dark flames summoned in his hands. At first I didn't understand why was he acting like that...but then I saw _her_ : Undyne, the Captain of the Royal Guard, was getting ready to attack my friend with her trustworthy spear. She wasn't wearing her armor, but a casual outfit that perfectly showed her manly muscles.

“You finally woke up.” a grave voice commented: I turned around only to see Death and Felicity right in front of me “It's a shame, you missed Undyne busting the elevator's door and yelling “Surprise, punks!”. I swear, that was hilarious...and I'm not easily impressed.” oh, I could see that very well. He wasn't even smiling for crying out loud!

“What did you see?” Felicity asked me.

“Something that you probably shouldn't know about.” it appeared as though I had unsettled her “Anyway, I don't like that Asriel is trying to fight off Undyne by himself: if I don't find a solution fast, the situation might get out of hand pretty quickly...”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's today's Strawpoll!  
> http://www.strawpoll.me/10274967
> 
> So yeah...is it the right moment to remember everyone that we're all filthy sinners? I think it is. =3  
> The strawpolls might get a bit weird now, since I originally didn't plan to write the "MTT Resort" section...but I think it's important to understand a few dynamics.  
> Don't worry, however: starting from next chapter, things will get much more interesting (as if they weren't already lol)!


	26. Hotland: Unreachable

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The encounter with Undyne went...unexpectedly.  
> After Felicity decided to do something stupid, we were forced to battle against an unknown foe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No excuses this time. I swear, I've never been this lazy in my entire career.  
> So yeah, this is probably full of errors and shit as well. Maybe one day I'll sit down and better this chapter...for now, enjoy it for what it is.

_[ACT: Talk]_

 

Whatever was going on needed to stop immediately: I already fought that piece of shit once and I wasn't going to waste any more time having a rematch with her...I walked between the two and yelled at both of them “That's enough! I don't know what the fuck is going on but we really don't have time to kick Undyne's ass one more time.” I leered at her with superiority, which made her even more infuriated.

“You need to shut the Hell up, punk! I'm not here to fight you, even though I really want to!” she smiled at me evilly “I've got a motherfucking date to attend to...” I would've liked to ask her further about that “date” of hers...actually, no, I didn't give a shit; instead, I turned towards Asriel and asked for explanations with my gaze.

“Oh, come on! How were we supposed to know she wasn't interested in a fight?” that was Chara's voice, for sure. Was Asriel still not ready to confront her...or was Chara still hell-bent on making her pay? Still, it looked like he switched back to Asriel soon after: I knew that happened from the sudden change in the monster's expression.

“Look, I already got fired.” the fish admitted sadly as her weapon disappeared “And Lord Asgore disavowed me so...there's no real reason to kill the Prince anymore. Even if I do, my situation won't better at all...”

“Well then, why don't we all forget we met and go our separate ways?” Temmie suggested a bit nervously from atop my head; since when had she been up there, I wondered?

“Sounds like a good idea.” the fish said nonchalantly “Well then, I have booked a table at the restaurant: do NOT disturb us.” she entered a room on our left and didn't even bid us farewell. How rude of her, I thought. I also noticed how quick her attitude changed: she shifted between anger and calm in less than a minute.

“So...should we spy on her?” Felicity asked, excited.

“Why should we?” Asriel inquired in return, perplexed “It would only be a waste of time...not to mention how futile it would be to learn about Undyne's...intimate relationships.” was it futile...or was he simply “not interested”?

*Man, I really am sounding stupid right now...* I though *Stop second-guessing him only because he swings that way!* I yelled at myself in my subconscious.

“Because I know who she's dating.” Felicity ran up to the goat and asked him to pick her up, which he did...even though he didn't look too pleased with it: he looked so cute with that little kitty atop his head “Trust me on this one, it's gonna be fun!” we wouldn't have been able to stop her anyway, she was too stubborn to allow us to: annoyed, we sighed and agreed to her plan.

Just then I remembered of Death's existence: I looked all around the room to find him, but alas he was nowhere. I wondered where he had wandered to...whatever, I thought, he was probably fine anyway.

I wanted to ask Asriel about the vision immediately...but I feared Felicity would've gotten upset by it: she looked so young and innocent...I felt like telling her that would've shattered that childlike innocence of hers. I decided to wait for me and Asriel to be alone and only then to have some fun with him.

We spied through the glass of the door that led to the restaurant: two figures were chatting at a remote table, but the glass was so blurry it was impossible to distinguish them. If we opened the door, Undyne would've realized we were spying on her...and, as I stated before, I didn't feel like kicking her ass and using her to wipe the floor.

I talked about the issue with Asriel and the others, and Temmie immediately found a solution “I've got just the thing we need! Hold on a second...” she used her phone's storage app and released a microphone and a small speaker; she explained “The microphone and the speaker are synchronized, so whatever the microphone listens to is immediately reproduced in this speaker. My plan goes like this: someone, preferably either me or Felicity, will sneak in the room and get as close as possible to the two monsters. This way everyone can listen to what those two are saying.” a perfect plan, without room for error and no way to fuck up: I liked it.

“Oh, can I be the one to sneak in?” Felicity looked ecstatic “It'll be awesome! It'll be as if I were James Bond or something! Can I have a code-name? Or is that too much?” she just couldn't stop asking questions...she really wanted to partake in the “operation”, even though it felt more like idiots spying on two lovers like some retarded kids.

“Anything that would make you shut up...” Asriel grabbed the microphone from the critter's hands and gave it to Felicity, then forced her to enter the room careful that the two monsters weren't listening to it.

It took the cat a short while to get to where the two were sitting at: since the audio was a bit weird, I thought that she was hiding under the table or something. Felicity could probably see who the fish was dating but, probably from fear of being revealed and consequentially from fear of revealing us all, she stayed mute and listened to the conversation intetly.

“You know, I've never lost like that before.” I heard Undyne say, a bit melancholy “I only ever lost against Lord Asgore, I didn't think someone else could've beat me...especially after you helped me with that “thing” of yours...” she was obviously talking about our previous encounter, and she didn't seem to be too afraid of mentioning it to the other person...she must have been real friends with them, I thought.

“You didn't lose!” that voice...Alphys! That bitch...I still needed to ask her a few questions! “You just...weren't prepared for it...”

“Which is another way of saying that I lost.” Undyne sighed. Alphys panicked for a moment, but returned calm soon after: Undyne had to have done something to calm her down...

“M-Maybe it's because of...that vial I gave you...” what was she talking about? Then I remembered: before battling me, the fish had injected herself with a weird red substance...I knew that son of a bitch had helped her some way! She wasn't our ally at all! However, before I intervened, I felt like I needed to listen a bit more: who knew, maybe I could've found out something interesting.

“No no no, that did help.” her friend reassured her “That...thing...it made me much stronger than I ever was: I felt...invincible...and yet, they still beat me.” her anger was increasing “That makes me even more mad! If I fought them without it, they would've destroyed me! It's so...humiliating!” I never saw it that way, but hearing her say it made me feel much better about myself.

“D-Don't worry Undyne, I-I can make another one! One that will make you stronger...much stronger! J-Just give me some time-”

“It's not about power, Alphys!” the fish raged at her friend “It's about honor! About respect! And I seem to have forgotten both even existed!” it was the first time I had ever heard Undyne talk about honor and respect...maybe she wasn't as bad as I originally thought “I lived a life fearing and hating the myth of Asriel, “the biggest failure of monsterkind”...” that epithet made Asriel slightly mad, but he didn't say anything “I was trained to hate him, hate was what fueled my power...that's how Lord Asgore trained me: he trained me specifically to defeat Asriel...” a small pause. The silence was palpable “And yet, when I began training...I didn't believe in hate or anything like that: I believed in honor, for fuck's sake! I believed in a fair challenge, I believed in my potential...but then...you came, with that stupid vial and...I guess that day I learned what fear was like. Fear of not being powerful enough to beat Asriel when he would've returned...fear that I wasn't as great as I originally thought...now it's even worse. Now I just...I just want to die.”

I couldn't believe what I had just heard: was she...seriously considering suicide? What the fuck was wrong with her, I asked myself? Was she really that desperate? I wanted to blast in and make her realize how wrong she was...but Asriel prevented me from doing so “Let's see how the Doctor reacts...” did he really say so? What the heck was going on with everyone?

“U-Undyne, no!” Alphys yelled “Y-You can't say that! You can't end your life because you lost against an overpowered monster! He's got a human Soul, of course he's stronger!”

“Yeah, but...”

“But nothing! You trained much harder than him! You went through so much...just to enter the Royal Guard! He hasn't suffered like you did at all! You're so much better than him...I thought...I thought...” was she...crying? “I thought that giving you that vial would've helped you, because I want to help you, Undyne! I just...I'm going through so much...and you're the only one who's supporting me through it all and I...I just wanted to repay you! But...I-I failed...I always fail...” you know, both of those girls needed a good psychiatrist. Just saying.

“I'm such a failure...”

“Oh, come on, you're not that bad!” was that the part where they start to console themselves and everything ends with a hug and a pat on the shoulder? I thought it was. I was slightly pisses: for a moment I thought things were going to get interesting...

I heard steps coming from right behind us, which made me believe for a second that Death had returned from wherever he had gone to...but I soon realized that it wasn't his step: those weren't shoes, they were heels. Was it Mettaton?

I turned around and saw someone I had never seen before: whatever monster that thing was, it was humanoid in form...at least, it looked like me. They wore a long black cape that completely enveloped them and prevented me from describing them better...their face was covered as well, but by a simple gray mask. Whoever they were, they didn't look friendly.

“Are you here to admire me or to get your ass kicked?” I asked, sarcastic “Either way, get the fuck out: I don't have time to deal with you.”

Completely disregarding what I had just told them, the monster drew a blade from inside their cape and pointed at me: it looked like a fleurette, but slightly bigger. The hand that held it was enveloped by a gray gauntlet...it gave me the chills, for some reason.

“Well, they surely are not here to admire you.” Asriel pointed out, ironic “Do not let your guard down though: I sense a strong power emanating from them.” he became much more serious than I would've liked him to: I wasn't in the mood for a tough fight, I had just demolished a spider-lady and I didn't feel like fighting a...whatever that thing was.

“Relax, how hard can it be?” I asked Asriel, carefree.

 

Less than a minute later I had broken through the wall that separated the hall from the restaurant and Asriel had followed me soon after: other than the wall, we destroyed a dozen of tables, forty or so chairs and lots of decorations. Well, good thing we weren't the ones paying the bills.

I landed on my back, my everything hurt. I hadn't gotten pawned so hard ever since the fight with Undyne...which hadn't happened that long ago, actually. I believed that Asriel had landed a bit better, but I wasn't that sure.

What hit me, I wondered? I got distracted for a second and...something hurt me, and I flew backwards.

“Hey, what the fuck are you doing here?” Undyne yelled at me from behind me “We're having dinner for fuck's sake!” I got up and looked backwards: the fish was indeed eating...something that I wasn't sure could be considered a dish together with the yellow dinosaur, which looked both embarrassed and extremely nervous.

“You again!” I shouted at her “You and I will have a long talk...” I looked towards the entrance...or rather, where the entrance was supposed to be: the monster was walking towards us with the calm, the composure and the slowness of someone who knows they're going to win no matter what happens “But first, I have someone else I have to beat.”

I stood valiantly before them, prompting them to stop: that mask prevented me from looking at her directly...but I doubted they were proving fear “Listen mate, I beat a lot idiots before you and you're not going to end my win streak! I've got a record to maintain! It's time to be-”

“Nope.” a small tornado of black dust appeared between me and my opponent: it disappeared soon after, and Death was standing in it's place “I've been waiting for a decent fight for the entirety of the no- I mean, for the entirety of your journey: it's time I finally have some fun while you sit and watch.” he smiled confidently and evilly.

*What a fucking piece of shit!* I thought *He's been up to who-knows-what this entire time and he thinks he can come here and steal my battle?*

“Actually, yeah, I think I can.” he answered. Had he read my mind or something? He immediately explained “Yes, I can read your mind. And everyone else's. You're all so damn angry around here: it's so easy to understand what you're thinking of...I don't even have to try.” he looked a bit more tired than usual. He turned to the monster, who was a bit taken aback from the sudden change in opponent “What, are you afraid all of a sudden? That's weird: the Red I know would never be afraid of anything, even if that “anything” was completely out of her league.” so, that monster was a girl...I should've understood it from the ticking of heels I heard before.

Either way, did Death know this monster? If he did, then why did he talk about a “Red” he knew? Maybe she had changed and he disliked her new appearance or personality...I didn't have enough information to paint the whole picture though.

“Well, this looks like it could be fun.” Asriel commented from my right: he was sitting on a table and looked at Death and Red intently. Since when had he recovered, I wondered?  
I turned towards the two fighters as well: I didn't want to intervene, as this felt like a personal matter. Death had to settle things his own way, by fighting that idiot who was foolish enough to dare stand in our way.

“Get set to get rekt.” he invited his opponent to attack him.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No Strawpoll today.
> 
> I really wanted to make this chapter longer, but I have a HUGE English exam tomorrow (Cambridge to be precise) and I have to sleep a bit more.  
> My goal is to take top scores, which I'm likely going to do...but who cares about it, honestly?  
> Next chapter's coming out whenever ~~I feel like it~~ I can work on it in peace. =3


	27. Hotland: Showdown

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Death and Red fought...and one side got pretty goddamn rekt.  
> After the cats left us alone for a while, I confronted Asriel about...that...and he reacted surprisingly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, if you don't know what the fuck happened to me in the last few days...I caught a severe case of gastroenteritis. To all of you who only know basic english...that basically means I spent the entire monday-tuesday night puking and drinking and puking and drinking...  
> I spent the entirety of yesterday recovering, so now I'm back in the game!
> 
> A few more chapters and I'll FINALLY be done with this section! I'm getting tired of all this light-heartedness, I want to return to all the values that make Underfell great!

The cat waited patiently for his opponent to make a move, he didn't seem even slightly interested in attacking: instead, he spent those instants trying to provoke the woman and forcing her to attack him “Come on, show me what you've got...if you're a true “Heroine”, then you won't have trouble kicking my ass...if you're on the right side, that is...” he chuckled grimly.

“Shut up!” I finally heard the woman shout...or rather, the girl: she seemed much younger than I had expected her to be, or, at least, I believed so “They never warned me that a foul-mouthed smart-ass would've stood in my way! I'm carefully evaluating my options over here, you know!” she seemed to have gotten quite angry too.

“Foul-mouthed...smart-ass...yeah, I believe you said those words last time we met too.” the cat smirked “...More or less, at least...” his laugh unsettled me: there was something sinister in his attitude...I had never seen him like that before.

“What are you talking about?” the girl was surprised and slightly unnerved “I've never met you before!”

“Oh, of course.” he simply explained “We haven't met yet...and yet we have, and I have proof to back my statement as well...” his words were extremely vague, they inspired fear inside of me for some sort of reason: every time he spoke about things I didn't know, something inside my heart...no, inside my Soul ached. There had to be some sort of connection...I needed to ask that guy further once he had finished; however, I feared that he wouldn't have answered me anyway...or that he would've ran off somewhere else.

“Either way, I'm getting bored.” the cat announced as he pointed his dark blade at his opponent “I've waited for a long while to have a decent match...so be prepared, and get set to get rekt.” now that I could look at that weapon better, I could analyze it further: it looked as black as the cat's guns, so it was probably made out of his Soul as well; from the looks of it, it was a normal sized sword...but I had a feeling that it wasn't quite like that, that it held some kind of unknown secret.

The girl didn't answer to Death's threat: instead, it slashed the air in front of her, which created some sort of air-propelled waves against him; I figured out rather soon that was the attack she used against me and Asriel. The cat didn't dodge the attack: instead, he used his weapons and cut right through the girl's...cuts...like they were nothing. Literally nothing.

“You see, Red...you've always had one big flaw.” the cat explicated “You're extremely predictable: you always use the same patterns, the same attacks...over and over again. Without ever changing.” he was interrupted by a new wave of slashes: this one's pattern, however, was much different from the previous one. Nevertheless, the cat managed to defend himself perfectly well “Pattern number two...” he mumbled as he blocked yet another wave of cuts “And pattern number three. That's it. You don't know what to do now, do you?” he asked the woman, who I bet was looking at him speechless from behind her mask. She tried to use that attack again, but I felt like I had seen that pattern before: indeed I did, she was, as the cat had foresaw before, reusing the same attacks over and over again.

“I memorized this sequence a long time ago.” Death admitted “And, to be clear, you never managed to hit me even a single time with that attack. So please, let's save some time and move on to one of your best attacks, shall we?” he invited her to strike with his right paw.

Infuriated, she charged towards him and struck again, unleashing a flurry of random hits that would've never been able to be blocked completely: despite my previsions, however, the cat managed not only to block all the attacks, but to push the girl away as well “Another flaw of yours is that you easily get blinded by emotions such as anger and irritation. That is another one of the reasons why I believe emotions are useless, after all: they bind you down, and make you much worse of a fighter than you really are.”

If all that reasoning was a plot to make her even angrier, it worked successfully: she yelled something not understandable as she charged against him once again, but failed miserably as before. This time, the cat reacted by waiting for her to finish her attack and kicking her in the face mercilessly, sending her flying backwards all the way through the room.

“Wow...” I heard Undyne comment with a low tone right next to me “That guy's so cool...”

“He is, isn't he?” Asriel replied “He is not having any trouble fighting that lady, who managed to take both me and Frisk by surprise. He also seems to be aware of everything that happens around him...or better, he seems capable of foreseeing every move of his opponent without a shade of doubt and evaluates at the same time the best ways to dodge, defend _and_ to counter-attack. That guy...what in the world even is he?” was Asriel...scared? Well, I couldn't be angry with him: I was a bit scared as well, after all. Just who was that feline, behind the mask that he had been wearing all this time?

“Well, it looks like everything went as I predicted.” Death smirked proudly “And your attacks have failed...what, twice now? That's a shame...I bet your Lord wouldn't have allowed you to fuck up even once, would he? But I am no such man, so I'll allow you to try one more time before...I strike back.” he spelled those last words slowly and carefully. He invited the monster to face him one more time...after that, apparently, he would've begun attacking her in return. I was wondering when he would've started fighting seriously.

The monster was in distress, she wasn't as confident as she was before “Shut up...shut up...you know nothing about me!”

“Oh, I know enough: enough to know you're not powerful enough to win this battle, enough to know that your next attack will fail, that you won't believe your eyes when it'll happen...because now you're going to use _that_ attack, which you know is foolproof and cannot fail...or can it, I wonder?” the cat's taunting fell on deaf ears as the monster had already begun preparing what looked like a tremendously potent attack “Well then, let's see if you're more powerful here than...” he didn't finish that phrase, which unsettled me greatly.

The monster charged at him with his blade, then slashed at him in every way possible: her blade turned sometimes orange, others azure, but most of the time it kept it's original silver metal tonality. Now, do not be mistaken: that attack wasn't random at all, every hit was studied in anticipation, they were all supposed to be hitting the cat wherever his guard wasn't up. Some of those hits were meant to distract him while others were meant to attack him directly: overall, that attack was perfect, in every way.

At least, it would've been...it Death hadn't foresaw each and every slash and reacted accordingly, blocking all the hits with his blade and dodging whenever blocking wasn't an option: just...how, I wondered? How in the world was he accomplishing that? Was he cheating, somehow...or was he really so skilled he could see his opponent's every move before they even thought of making them?

Suddenly, the cat slashed right in front of him: a straight cut, which the monster dodged miraculously. If she hadn't managed to do so, she would've probably died instantly. However, she wasn't as lucky as I originally thought: even though the attack didn't hit her, it hit _something else_. The blade of her sword flew in the air and landed on the ground a few feet behind her, clanking loudly.

“H-How...” the girl looked scared, she had even begun trembling as she faced the expressionless man.

“Now, don't worry.” he reassured her “I won't hit you _that_ hard: I want solely to teach you a lesson, after all.” his weapon elongated...all the way to his feet. Just then I realized that the weapon wasn't a sword at all- well, not completely, but a whip “This will be a lesson I doubt you'll ever forget.” she didn't even have the time to dodge, as the attack hit her effortlessly and sent her flying all the way to the ceiling. The cat disappeared and reappeared in the air in front of the monster, enshrouded in a small whirlpool of black dust: he began whipping the lady brutally, mercilessly, without restraining himself, until a more powerful slash sent her flying backwards once more and she landed on the opposite wall (at least, what was left of it).

As the woman got off the wall, the man prepared himself and his weapon shifted shape once more: some kind of appendages appeared on either side of the blade, which then began to...move frantically. I don't know how to describe it properly, but...it looked like that thing was a chainsaw as well. A sword-whip-chainsaw...where could I have one of those, I wondered? I would've paid any price to even try that thing once.

Death whipped towards the woman, and the weapon extended all the way until it reached the monster who, in the meantime, had managed to get on her feet and was evaluating a new, useless strategy: the whip cut right through her, and the chainsaw began tearing her apart from the inside. It was horrible to watch...and yet, no blood (or dust, in that case) was spilled and she didn't even feel as much pain as I thought she would've felt. The cat soon after retreated the whip, launching the monster towards him: he then retreated the whip completely, pulling it out of the woman's stomach in the process, and used it to hit her once more now that her defenses were completely, utterly destroyed. I doubted she would've been able to walk straight for a while.

“Get rekt.” Death commented proudly as he put a pair of black sunglasses he held in his jacket's pocket on. As the monster struggled to even get up, the cat announced “You lost, if you hadn't noticed.” upon hearing these words, the girl fell down helpless, crying “N-No way...I can't...I can't have lost...”

“Yet another flaw of yours.” Death sighed “You believe that, simply because you believe you fight for the “right cause”...that you will win, always and without any further reason. Unfortunately, that's not how it works...and, even if it did, you're still fighting for the wrong cause nonetheless.”

“N-No! I'm not...I'm fighting for the King, for my country...f-for J-Justice...”

“You find it difficult to believe now, do you?” the man approached her on the ground...almost carefully “If you want to fight for the ideals you praise, you need to become a better fighter first. And, if you require a master, I can help you to better both physically and mentally. Right now, as conflicted and unprepared as you are, you're in no shape to fight...but, give me a few days and you'll be the best warrior that ever held a sword under this mountain.” he grabbed her mask and pulled it away: an almost...human face, even though it had some canine features, was crying behind it. She looked so pretty...and young; she had long, curly red hair with purple stripes and red eyes.

“I believe she was sent here to kill you.” Death communicated to Undyne “I can read her feelings: they're full of grief, so I believe she's sorry for even considering the option.”

“Why the fuck should I care?” Undyne yelled at him “She tried to do what? I'll KILL her with my own hands, that punk! All because I...” she paused for a moment “All because I...failed the King. And I bet he's gonna do it again, he's gonna send an assassin after her to, now that she failed...damn...”

Temmie tried to assess the situation from atop my head (frankly, I had forgotten she even existed in the first place) “I would recommend a truce, at least temporarily: as it stands, we're all enemies of the same man...the King, that is...there's no doubt he's going to send more assassins to deal both with us and with Undyne and...Red?” she asked the monster, who nodded as she cried “I'm sorry...I should've known better...Justice doesn't resort to assassination in any circumstance...I betrayed my own ideals...”

“And the King betrayed that of his nation's.” Asriel pointed out, a bit angry. Both him and Temmie recommended both the ex-captain of the Royal Guard and the warrior sent to punish her for her failure to evade future rogues sent to kill them and to seek shelter anywhere they could.

“Before I let you go, however...” the cat reminded the canine-like lady “We have some training to do. This way, you'll be able to defend yourself...until true Justice is restored.” he grabbed her by the ear and made her come somewhere with him. “I should probably go with them too...” Felicity sighed “I want to keep both of them under surveillance...I don't want him to almost break her in half like last time...” she ran away, without specifying what she meant.

“Now that I think about it, where's Alphys?” Temmie asked.

She was right inquiring about that: the filthy lizard had escaped once more, and was nowhere to be seen. Fuck, I knew I should've kept an eye on her. Her friend was a bit disappointed to apprehend her departure, but she only sighed as she mumbled “Dammit, I was so close to stealing a-”

“Do you know where she might have went?” Asriel asked, interrupting her.

“Like I know.” Undyne calmly answered “Well, I need to go too. Like you said, I need to get off the radar while you...you know...do your thing.” what was she talking about, I wondered? Could she really be meaning...

“I don't get it.” I said “Why are you so...friendly with us all of a sudden?”

“Because...” she explained “I don't really have a reason to hate you anymore. I was born and raised with the sole purpose to kill you...” her gaze darted at Asriel evilly “But, now that my mentor wants me dead...it's kinda hard to hate the enemy of my enemy, you know what I'm saying?” she stopped at the door, looked back towards us and added “Life down here is...so damn weird...it doesn't even feel like living anymore. I don't think I want things to stay the same anymore...so please, do at least _something_ to change them, okay?” as soon as she said that, she turned towards the door and left in a hurry. We didn't know what to say.

“Well, the good news is that both those idiots left.” Asriel was probably referring to Death and Felicity “Which is great, considering how much I despised the black one. Seriously, I hated his attitude: it reminded me so much of-”

“Your own?” I leered at him “Also, when were you planning to tell me that you were gay?” his expression fell. Temmie looked at me weirdly: she didn't know if to believe me or not, her face was serious but she was also on the verge of uncontrolled laughter.

“P-Pardon me?” the goat asked, nervous “I d-don't know what you're t-talking about...”

“Oh, yes you do!” I looked at him with the superiority of someone who knows a loved one's most hidden secret “Looks like you weren't that bad with Chara after all...”

“S-Stop it...” he was dripping sweat all over and his cheeks were as red as wine “I-I don't know what you might have seen but I-I swear you must have misunderstood...” he tried to cut the conversation short by fleeing, but I reached him and held him by the shirt, blocking his escape “Wow, I even said I liked you for fuck's sake! Now I know why you refused, because you liked a completely different gender!”

Suddenly, the force that I was trying to block stopped pushing away: Asriel turned around and stared at me, half embarrassed and half angry. He was so mad that I couldn't even see his eyes, all I could see was a black fire engulfing his very being “O-Okay, maybe I went a little bit too far...” I admitted as I nervously laughed “W-Why don't we just forget about this and-”

He hugged me roughly, pressed me against him and kissed me on the lips, not giving me even the time to respond. It lasted a few seconds before he finally let go rudely and managed to say, not embarrassed anymore in the slightest “I am not gay. Case closed. Let's go, ladies.” he started heading towards where the fish lady had arrived a few minutes earlier.

“I'm receiving contrasting vibes from him.” Temmie pointed out “I don't know what to believe, everything feels so weird right now...first you like him, then you don't, then he doesn't like you, then he does...did everything suddenly turn into a soap-opera while I wasn't watching perhaps?”

“If it did, I probably wasn't watching as well.” I answered, not knowing what else to say apart from “Let's follow him and get outta here as fast as we can.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, no strawpoll. I originally planned there to be a...thing...that would've required a strawpoll, but...I don't really want to talk about it as the idea failed miserably.  
> So yeah, I would like to hear from you guys since it's been ages since I last heard from you. I really need any support you can give me.
> 
> Oh, and school here in Italy ends soon (next wednesday to be more precise) so, after that's done, we can finish this fic for good! =3
> 
> (P.S. I will revisit this and the last few chapters tomorrow because I feel like there might be a few errors in them...or maybe a lot...or maybe I could just have written them a bit better. So yeah, go check them out if you want.)


	28. Mettaton

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I finally confront the dastardly robot: after a rough start, I get some help and manage to gain the upper-hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm lazy, I'm tired, I'm everything.  
> Good news is that in a few days that's going to change! I'm almost done and, after school is thrown out the window, I'll make sure to get back to writing this piece of crap at full regime! I want to finish this thing before June ends, so get ready because I'll be spamming chapters every 2-3 days!  
> Either way, enjoy your read! =3

After exiting the hotel through the backdoor, we walked down a futuristic-looking path that took us to a gigantic construction, so big and...weird I can't even describe it: it looked like a huge mass of junk piled upon each other, in layers. Sparkly blue light came from a few cracks in the structure, adding to the overall mystery of that place: what exactly was that thing?

A door was located at the base of the structure, allowing us to enter it: the inside looked as futuristic as the road we had walked on, but we still had no clue as to what it was. In front of us stood what looked like an elevator and a long path: we chose to ride the elevator and see where it would've brought us.

As I pressed the button to call the elevator, I looked at Asriel: we hadn't spoken ever since he...kissed me, and he didn't even bother looking at me either. I figured out it was the right time to make some conversation...and get him to blush a bit more “So...did you really lie when you said you loved me?” I asked him with a huge sarcastic smile on my face.

“I do not recall ever saying that.” he admitted, smiling just as ironically “I only recall calling you a pet at least a hundred times as of today...in fact, I believe it was _you_ who said you loved me.” he chuckled, perfectly knowing that I had dug my own grave.

“But you don't deny that you may prove some feelings towards me, do you?” I got closer to him, expecting him to give me a straight answer: either yes or no. I didn't really care what he said, as I was not interested in him in the slightest...at least, I didn't think so.

“I will tell you only after you tell me if you love me or not.” he turned towards me: his mischievous smile was like a middle-finger to me.

If I loved him or not...never before did I struggle giving an answer to such a simple question: if I said yes, he would've won...but saying no would've been a lie, and I knew it. I did prove something for him: whereas that morning I only felt hate towards him, I know felt a genuine bond between us, one that was well beyond simple friendship...he saved my life multiple times, and I fought for him multiple times as well. However, I wasn't sure if what I proved was _that_ kind of love...moreover, I didn't want to admit proving anything towards him because I was too proud to do so...or too stupid.

I stood there immobile and silent for a while before he turned away, a bit sad and told me “Nevermind, I do not want an answer anyway...”

*Oh, you're not going to get away with it!* he did prove something, I was sure of it: I needed to tell him the truth in that moment or...or what, I wondered? Either way, I wanted him to answer my question: I breathed in and-

“Look out!” Temmie warned me from atop my head: the doors of the elevator had opened and some metallic arms had emerged from within and grabbed me wholly, preventing me from running away or resisting. I was soon forced into the elevator, which closed it's doors too quickly for Asriel to do anything to save me. Both me and Temmie (who was stuck as well if you are asking) would've been crushed by the speed of that deadly jalopy if it weren't for those limbs keeping us in place: it did hurt a bit, but I had been hurt worse over the course of that day.

“Where are we going?” Temmie yelled at me as she tried to break free.

“Nowhere good, that's for sure...” I replied as I struggled, in vain. We weren't going to get out of that situation any time soon, so I figured out we should've just waited until the elevator stopped and figure out a solution only then.

Indeed, the elevator stopped soon after: all of a sudden, the doors opened, the arms let go and we were catapulted on the dirty, dusty ground. I got up and shook off the dirt that was on my clothes, then I noticed the noise all around me: it was everywhere, it seemed like a lot of people were yelling all at once. That was never good, in my opinion.

I looked at the place: it looked like I was in the middle of a big, round arena. The stands were full of monsters of all kinds looking at me and yelling me incomprehensible things; that wasn't very promising either: an arena always meant fighting. The ceiling was so high it could've been mistaken for the sky at night. Above me were four huge screens, attached to some kind of device floating in the air, which were showing...me.

“Welcome, darling!” the same goddamn obnoxious voice...Mettaton. He had appeared behind me without me even realizing it, accompanied by his cousin Napstablook (Blooky? Napstabot? I wasn't sure of how to call him anymore honestly) who was carrying a massive video-camera pointed on me “You're just in time for “Mettaton's Swingin' Report Show”!” the red robot shouted with an evil smile.

“I'm afraid you don't have enough swag to use that name, you piece of shit.” I told him as I got ready for battle: I wasn't leaving that place without shredding that piece of junk.

“Anyway, today we're here in the heart of the Core to broadcast...your death!” the android said as he neared me “I figured out I might just as well skip the boring part and show everyone what they want: your absolute demise!” he laughed maniacally as he invited me to attack him “Show me what you've got, but don't be boring: I don't want the ratings to fall!”

I couldn't do anything else than crack all the bones in my arms and legs and reassure him “Oh, don't worry you cunt: I will make sure everyone watching will be satisfied...with me kicking your ass!” that sure caused a reaction: the shouts and yells coming from the spectators increased drastically.

“And I'm here to help!” Temmie told me as she prepared her machine gun “Let's show him what we've got...even though Asriel isn't here...” now that I thought about it, she was right: Asriel wasn't there to help us...well, not that we needed him. I was sure we could've handled Mettaton in two just fine.

I shot at Mettaton using my guns, but his armor was impenetrable: I didn't inflict even the slightest of damage to him. “I think we need to weaken him a bit before that attack can be effective...” Temmie advised me. Indeed, if we were to destroy his exterior armor...I bet his inside wasn't as resistant as the outside.

I charged at him at full speed after asking Temmie to hold me tightly: I jumped in mid-air and kicked the robot in the face with my right boot, causing my leg-gun to fire a shotgun shell in response. The result? Absolutely no damage, if you didn't count me in.

*Metal, my worst enemy...* I reminded myself hatefully.

“My body is invincible, invincible I say!” he praised himself “But you...I don't think we can say the same about you!” he pointed his fist towards me, which shifted into a rocket launcher: he launched a missile towards me, but I was quicker than it and shot it down with my weapons.

“Not bad!” he congratulated me “Let's see how you like...this!” he launched more rockets from various holes that appeared in his body: those were too many to be shot down manually, but thankfully Temmie covered me using her Chicago Thompson, effectively saving our lives.

The crowd kept yelling excited, and I was determined to please those people by giving them the most intense fight they had ever seen...starting from the point where I actually found a way to deal with the annoying robot.

“You insolent brat!” he referred to Temmie “I never wanted you to interfere! This show is supposed to be only about _me_!” his arm extended and caught Temmie before I could save her, then retracted “But you're not going to do so ever again!” he span his arm repeatedly, causing the little critter to cry uncontrollably, then let go and sent her flying in the air above him.

Before she left the arena, Temmie managed to scream “Spaaaaace!” and kept doing so for a while. I didn't understand why she would do so, but...whatever, I had bigger issues at hand.

“You're a dick! What kind of monster would hurt a little innocent thing like her?” only then I realized that I had used the word “monster” in a way that could no longer be correct, and Mettaton was quick at correcting me “Every monster, darling! This is the Underground, everyone down here fends for themselves...that's the only rule down here, “survive or die trying”...well, the only one that matters, really...” he invited me to attack him once again, which made me even more mad: I hated being toyed with like that.

I ran towards him and used my “Spinning Bird Kick” combined with the shots from my shotguns, but that proved to be ineffective as well and the robot took the opportunity to grab me by my leg and throw me away like I were nothing.

“Man, that armor's tough...” I mumbled as I spit some blood on the ground.

“It is, isn't it?” I heard a voice coming from right in front of me: surprisingly enough, Karma was standing before me, fiddling with a cellphone “Maybe he's a bit overpowered, you should file a report and maybe someone will nerf him...after a year, perhaps.” he grinned at me and chuckled, but I didn't understand the joke “Either way, you're going to need some help if you want to bring him down.”

“Hey, get out of my set, you little shit!” Mettaton cursed the yin-yang feline “You're not supposed to interrupt my moment of triumph, you son of a bitch!”

“What did you just call me?” the cat never looked so serious before “Oh, you didn't do it...you didn't fucking do it...” I could feel some kind of power emanating from him, a thousand...no, a million times stronger than what I always felt “No, you're the bitch! And you're about to get FUCKED!”

His eyes shined as he summoned around twenty weird-looking cards out of nowhere which somehow floated in mid-air: they arranged themselves before him forming a perfect icosagon, then some lights began to glow in the middle of the polygon as the cat yelled “Divine Decree – Dies Irae!”

What looked like physical beams of white lights were shot from the middle of the icosagon at high speed, perforating the robot; after realizing what was happening, he tried to dodge but to no avail: the beams deviated the trajectory and always hit him regardless of where he moved, until something finally happened and smoke began coming out of him.

The cat was still smoking as well, but for completely different reason: something the robot said must have triggered him, I had never seen him so full of ire before “That'll teach you, you fucking cunt...” the cards flew back in his hand and he began playing with them like a magician would “Anyway, I think he's a bit weaker now so...”

*Wait, for real?* I looked at the robot, who was yelling at the cat every swear word that exists in the dictionary except the one he used before, “son of a bitch”: evidently, he must have been scared of him reacting to it once more; either way, the cat didn't care about the robot and began talking with me “You know, I don't feel like playing any music right now: apart from a few songs like “Darude – Sandstorm”, there's really nothing that-” he got interrupted by some kind of shitty techno music that began playing from somewhere in the background “No! I was kidding! Stop that right now!” the music stopped at his command.

“Geez, I don't even...” he massaged his front with his right hand as he simply explained “I'm done with music over here. This all got too damn stupid...” what did he mean with “over here”?

“Well, I'm out. Good luck bringing down this idiot!” he disappeared in a flash of light.

That was all I needed from him: I charged at the android before he could recover and kicked him repeatedly in the torso, this time with decent success. The armor was still present, but the attack from before had severely damaged it and it was now possible for me to strike that fucker down. “Ka-boom!” I yelled happily as I exploded some more shells in his face, shoving him backwards.

“Why, you little-” he recovered quickly and launched a new barrage of missiles at me: without Temmie, destroying them all would've been near-impossible...psyche! I kicked the air in front of me at supersonic speed, unleashing a barrage of shots of my own that negated the robot's onslaught. The tides of battle had turned in my favor, and I wasn't going to let them down.

“Get owned, you piece of shit!” I posed sexily for the camera, which made the whole audience yell with rapture: even the freaking audience was with me, for fuck's sake! That fucking idiot had no chance at all, now I was sure.

“Fuck that little piece of shit!” Mettaton yelled at me “If it weren't for him, I would've won!” well, I did get a _little_ help from Karma...but I would've made it without him for sure, everybody knew that...right?

“Time to be terminated, you little bitch!” he yelled at me: his fists turned into Gatling guns and began shooting at me; I couldn't approach him while he was doing that, so I decided to patiently wait for him to finish and to shoot him with my normal sub-machine guns in the mean time.

Meanwhile, the audience began panicking and shrieking, and I knew why: those bullets weren't made of magic, but of real lead and they also threatened to harm the monsters in the parterre, which had to duck to avoid getting shot. Did this guy not care for his viewership at all or was he so focused on killing me he wasn't even realizing he could hurt his own followers?

Either way, that didn't last long: I heard an explosion coming from above one of the parterres and checked it out: a huge hole was in the wall over the audience, and it looked like it had been caused by some kind of explosive weapon. A black motorcycle emerged from the hole at high speed and flew across the arena propelled by some kind of black flame...I was relieved because I knew what that meant.

The motorcycle landed a few feet away from us and soon after some black flames appeared in mid-air before being shot at the robot, who was forced to endure the hit. As more projectiles were shot at the robot from the vehicle, his body began to deform and entire parts got destroyed. Eventually, he fell to the ground immobile.

After that, the bike braked before me and three people got off it, the ones that I was expecting: Death, Felicity and Asriel.

“Come with us if you want to live.” Death ordered me jokingly, before commenting “I hope we didn't steal all the fun from you.”

“Don't worry: someone did that before you.” I winked at him; he understood immediately who I was talking about.

“Frisk, are you alright?” Asriel ran towards me and hugged me tightly “That dick...I was so worried for you...”

“Dude, chill out: I'm not a girl!” I blushed as I reminded him of that basic notion.

“But you are my pet, and I worry for you.” he smirked at me, but I knew he was sincerely glad that I was safe: my heart melted at the thought, but I was too proud to tell him that.

“How did you get here anyway?” I asked, confused.

“After the doors closed, I began panicking...thankfully, Death and Felicity returned just in time and helped me reach you. We had to drive through the totality of the Core to get to you, but...”

“Wait, what is the “Core”?”

“It's this structure right here. Maybe I will explain what it truly is later.” he simply replied.

I looked at Death, who had just turned his motorcycle into black dust to be absorbed: I saw him do that with his weapons, but...a whole fucking vehicle...I wanted him to teach me how to do that, I would've been so cool if I could do that...

“Surprise, bitches!” as we were chatting between ourselves, the robot recovered what little stamina he had left and was pointing his Gatling gun at us “It's time to be terminated!” just then, I heard some kind of scream coming from on top of us: some kind of blazing fireball landed on top of Mettaton, smashing him into the ground and producing so much smoke it was impossible to see what really happened.

After the smoke expired, I couldn't believe my eyes: Temmie was standing proudly over the destroyed body of Mettaton “I've returned from space!”

“But you never went to space...” Felicity pointed out.

“Whatever.” she simply replied.

“You...dicks!” a soft, effeminate voice yelled at us. Something emerged from the pile of junk that Mettaton now was: a pink, stylish-looking ghost with the same goddamn hair as Mettaton. Well, that made a lot of sense actually: Napstablook was indeed a ghost, after all.

“You destroyed my body! I will make you pay for it!” he looked harmless in that state, even pitiful: I briefly considered the possibility of trying to execute him using the same strategy I used to harm Napstablook the day before...

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's today's Strawpoll!  
> http://www.strawpoll.me/10408580
> 
> I know I said I would correct the last chapters, sorry but I didn't. Maybe I'll do it tomorrow, MAYBE.
> 
> [Also, I noticed there was a typo a few chapters ago when I said "Frisk" instead of "Felicity". Sorry guys, it was only a typo. =/  
> I'm such an idiot lol how did that even happen?]


	29. Hotland: Judgment

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After beating Mettaton, I decided to spare him an ulterior beating...heck, I even ended up supporting him and Napstablook instead!  
> Oh, and of course...Karma. How could I forget about him?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'M FREE! FUCK YEAH! (ง✧ᴥ✧)ง  
> But I'm still lazy as shit, so it will take a while for me to take a look at the past chapters. I especially want to modify the ending of chapter 28, I didn't describe Mettaton as a ghost too much I fear...maybe I'll do it tomorrow, most likely not.  
> Enjoy!

_[MERCY: Spare]_

 

“Yeah, you know what? I'm done with you.” I told the pink ghost as I looked for a way to exit the area “Screw you and your fucking body, I'm done with your stupid-ass shenanigans!”

“So, we are not even going to try to kill him, are we?” Asriel asked, calm “Is that because he's a ghost or because you do not want to kill anyone in general?”

“Both.” as much as I despised Mettaton and I wished he got punished for the Hell he made us go through, I felt like a theoretical death would've been nothing more than a blessing in disguise for him; besides, I proved many times before that I could get away with sparing people that wanted me dead, so I didn't feel like I was going to risk my life by not ending his.

“Y-You're not going to ignore me, are you?” the ghost asked us, afraid and nervous “B-Blooky, do something! Y-You still have a body, so you can attack them!” he tried to force his cousin to do the dirty work for him.

“Mettaton, I...” the blue robot tried to persuade Mettaton “I don't think I can do that: that human...she's my friend, I can't hurt her!” well, at least he remembered. I smiled at the robot, who, upon noticing, looked the other way, slightly embarrassed.

“W-What? You can't refuse! I was the one who gave you that body, I was the one who hired you! Without my help, you would've remained a nullity! You-”

“Sorry to intervene, you piece of shit.” I stood up for Napstablook “But I don't think you treated your cousin that good: in fact, your influence made him feel even more like a nothingness than before! Your “viewers” probably know him only as “that guy who holds the camera”: if you give the job to someone else, I bet they wouldn't be able to tell the difference!” the audience whistled and screamed, probably enthusiastic that I was giving the bitchy robot...or better, the bitchy ghost what he deserved.

“But I-” Mettaton was interrupted by his cousin, who somehow managed to cry even though he was in a robotic body “I wanted to help you, but you always treated me like shit! You were so busy pursuing fame...that you forgot that I even existed...” he felt really bad, he felt used, and I guess I would've felt like that as well if I were him. He didn't deserve it.

“B-But...but I...” the pink ghost didn't know what to say, he was about to cry “I-I'm sorry...I-I didn't want you to feel like that...” I eyed him estranged “Before you came, I was on the verge of bankruptcy...but I felt like, with you by my side, I could've become the star I knew I was. However, when you told me a human would've came...I lost my mind...” I swear if he had hands, he would've used them to cover his eyes in shame “I let fame blind me...I let money blind me...I only wanted to become famous, to be recognized, because if I failed...everyone would've thought that I was a loser...”

Napstablook's robotic body made a weird noise and fell to the ground, lifeless: a glowing azure ghost emerged from it, the same phantom I had seen the day prior. He approached his cousin and told him, softly “You don't need to be famous to be accepted: I know that, deep inside, you're a wonderful person.” he was still crying, but somehow he managed to not let his emotions get in the way “I-I'm sorry if I'm not enough...s-sorry if I'm not enough to please you...” he was interrupted my his cousin, who got up close to him as he was speaking and cuddled against him, which I interpreted as a hug “You _are_ enough...I don't need anyone else but you...” they stopped crying and stayed like that for a few instants, suspended in time.

While everyone in my group was happy for them...mostly happy for them, the audience didn't like how everything ended: they began yelling and cursing the two cousins, who were both scared of the crowd. I decided to stand up for them once again: I grabbed the microphone Napstablook's body still possessed and yelled in it, silencing everyone in the arena “If you don't stop booing these two, I will get to you and fuck you up personally! Understood, you pieces of shit?” never before did the Underground become so quiet...at least, that's what Asriel told me some time later.

“Anyway, how do we reach the Royal Palace?” Asriel asked the pink ghost “We spared your life _and_ helped you, so I believe a clue as to where to go would be nice.” funny how he used the pronoun “we” even though I was the one who did all the work for him.

“Oh, there's an exit right there.” it proved difficult for Mettaton to point even a general direction: he apparently spent too much time inside a robotic suit and forgot how to maneuver his standard “body” correctly “Just...go over there, you'll find a door eventually.” he eventually managed to use his hair (or what looked like his hair) to point to a distant gate under a stand a hundred feet or so away.

We bid farewell to the ghosts and made our way to the door...or so were we, as the floor below us began trembling mid-way, making the whole tribune scream in fear of an earthquake: an earthquake was indeed happening, as bigger and bigger cracks started appearing in the floor and whole chunks of dirt fell into the abyss below “Everyone, run!” Death yelled not only at us, but to all the monsters spectating as well.

I ran as fast as I could, but there wasn't enough time to make all the distance before the floor collapsed on itself. I eventually got stuck in a crack in the floor, which blocked my escape “Shit! Help, somebody help!” I cried.

“Frisk!” Asriel heard my cry and ran in my direction, hoping to save me before I could fall to my death “Resist, I'm coming for you!” those words inspired hope in me, hope that I wouldn't have met my end there; however, that hope disappeared as quickly as it came: I was dragged towards the abyss by the invisible force that is gravity “Asriel!” I called his name.

“Frisk!” he called me as he threw himself in the fracture that risked to take both our lives. How reckless of him...I didn't expect him to throw away his life like that. Or so I believed.

 

It felt as if time froze on it's own, freezing both my body and my thoughts in the endless fall that I prospected. It reminded me of when I first fell in the Underground the day before...back then, I only wanted to survive, to not let my life go to waste: now, another concept...or better, another name echoed in my hollow mind: Asriel's.

I couldn't stop thinking about him, about his courage, about the sentiments he had been showing me for the very brief time we had been together...perhaps that was because he was standing still a few feet above me, and I was stuck looking at him.

I stayed like that for a while before I heard a voice, different from my own, echo in the hole we had been falling in “Oh dear, I feel like I'm a bit late to the party.” Karma's of course. He appeared in a flash of light right in front of me, walking on what looked like an invisible floor right in front of me...which defied gravity in more than one way considering that he was basically staring at the immense abyss below me from his point of view.

“Excuse me for my delay, I had a few things to take care of.” he had regained his usual carefree and playful attitude, from the looks of it “You know what time is it, don't you?” he asked me.

“It's time for that judgment-thingie, right?” I asked, remembering all of a sudden that I could, incredibly, talk.

“Yep. A bit annoying on my part, but it has to be done, am I right?”

“Are you seriously asking me for confirmation?” I looked at him trasversally.

“Touché. Whatever, this is the last one anyway.” his grin expanded as he looked right through me “...And, thankfully, that isn't the only thing that's going to stop. I now know every facet of your very self...thanks to all the choices that you've made.” he walked towards me as he explained nonchalantly “I've been testing you since yesterday, ever since you arrived in this place. I needed to know if you've learned something after...”that”.” he deliberately didn't explain what he meant, but he reassured me “Now, I know you want answers...and I plan on giving them to you. Now that I know I can trust you, I will tell you everything you need to know. However, I need you to wait a bit more, until after this judgment.”

“What? But you just said-”

“If I were to tell you everything all at once, you wouldn't believe me.” he interrupted me “And, if you were to believe me, you would probably have a hard time understanding it all as well. And also...” he winked at me “...I don't want to spoil everything all at once, I will take my time and reveal everything step by step, minute by minute, chapter by chapter...” he winked once more, but I didn't understand the reason to...or why he used such a weird expression.

“Shall we begin?” he asked himself.

“ **First things first, when you first met Mettaton and Napstablook** _ **you chose to converse with them instead of fighting or running away**_ **. You tried to talk to them, you wanted to make sure that they didn't mean you harm...they actually were evil in the end,** _ **but**_ _ **you still tried to talk your way out of it**_ **.**

**Next, when you were asked whether to take the long way or to risk taking a shortcut,** _**you decided to take the shortcut** _ **. Very ballsy, I like it!** _**You're either calculating, lucky...or, most likely, reckless** _ **. I don't consider either of the two options “bad”...but I do think that the choice you took gives you a few extra “badassery points”, if that makes sense. So, good for you!**

**Now...oh, I'm still laughing my ass off about it...when you were asked who did you love most,** _ **you choose Asriel**_ **. Yeah, like no-one saw that coming...** ”

“Hey, shut the fuck up!” I yelled at him.

“Be quiet! I'm conducting a judgment here!” he admonished me even though he was the one who provoked me in the first place “I've got the right of making fun of you for hiding it for so long! It was so obvious there was no need to ask it in the first place!”

“I am _not_ in love with Asriel, okay?” I yelled at him angrily “We're just...it's hard to describe...”

“Yeah, of course...” he still had that shit-eating grin on his face, which meant I hadn't done a great job at convincing him “Anyway, let's move on.”

“ **So yeah, you chose Asriel.** _ **At least we know, from the fact that...you're still alive, that you do prove some kind of love for Asriel. I'm sure you'll have plenty of time to elaborate in the coming hours**_ **...**

**Some time later, when you were presented with the choice of either pursuing the two robots or letting them go and proceed as usual,** _**you chose to pursue them** _ **. I guess that's understandable: everyone's patience eventually runs out. Especially that of hot-headed babes like you, am I right...right? Anyway,** _**apart from showing a general intolerance for the bullshit those two made you go through** _ **, I don't think there's a lot of meaning in this choice either.**

**Soon after, you confronted Muffet: you could've spared her or finished her off,** _ **and you chose the former**_ **. Someone could've argued that executing her would've been the best course of action, as she would've regretted her loss for the rest of her life...** _ **but, as we saw soon after, that was proven not to be the case**_ **.** _ **You helped Muffet to accept her loss and not be a stoic**_ **, which I believe is quite the achievement. Good job, you gave a middle-finger to a lot of people once again.** ”

“What do you mean?” I asked, curious.

“As I said, you'll get it very soon. Just...trust me on that one.”

“ **Anyway, when you saw that Asriel and Undyne were about to fight,** _ **you stepped in and avoided a confrontation**_ **. Not only that,** _ **you also managed to befriend her...sort of**_ **. Another “fuck you” to a very specific group of people. Nice one!**

 **Last but not least, just now** _ **you decided to spare Mettaton even though he was a dick to you all this time**_ **. A huge dick at that too. I mean, I get that he's a ghost and it would be troublesome to kill a ghost...** _ **but the fact that you managed not only to forgive, but to help a guy like him...means that you truly are a good person**_ **.** _ **A very good person**_ **.** ”

“And...that's it.” he concluded “That's all I have to say.”

“Look, I understand your logic, but...” I looked the other way “...I'm not a good person. I'm definitely not a good person: I've never given a shit about anyone, I just...thought that killing everyone that I crossed paths with would've been stupid and unnecessary. That doesn't automatically make me a good guy...”

“You never listened to me, did you?” he shook his head as he added “Or, perhaps...you simply don't have a lot of faith in yourself. If you weren't a good person, you surely wouldn't have acted as you did: you helped a lot of people, even some that were hostile to you since the beginning. You proved time and time again that violence, while useful to defeat opponents that are blind to the truth and deaf to reason, isn't always the best answer to everything.”

He approached me and looked at me in the eyes, calm “Karma, the concept, is like a double-edged sword: it makes sure that everyone gets what they deserve. The modalities in which that happens are usually weird and incomprehensible...but, if you go check in the history books, the worthy always obtain their just deserts and the unworthy obtain solely swift, brutal revenge.” he turned around and continued “However, there are other forces in this world other than Karma...forces that act in the opposite way: they favor the unworthy over the worthy, they foment chaos and destruction because...they can, that's it. This doesn't make them more powerful or relevant than Karma though, as time always makes sure that Karma is the absolute winner in a war that commenced way before we were born.” he turned towards me once again and finished his argument “Time has allowed Karma to catch up to you...and I don't think it means harm to you. Not anymore, at least. You're free from the chains that bound you to your sins, and you only have to thank yourself for that.”

“Sins? What sins? What are you talking about?” I asked as the vision I had in Waterfall resurfaced in my mind “Do they have to do with...”

“Soon.” he simply answered, as he disappeared in a flash.

Time started flowing once again, and I knew it because Asriel was now much closer to me than before: he was soon able to catch me and hold me close to him, as if he were to protect me from the fall with his very body “Got you...”

*This is it..* I thought *This is where we both die...I hope I'll be able to learn the truth in Hell...*

I heard a voice whisper to me in my head “Seriously, do you really have so little faith in me?” Karma, of course “Fine, if you want to be sure you'll survive...” I saw, in the corner of my eye, a figure coming towards us from above: it managed to outspeed us and grab us both, then somehow make out fall much slower.

“Who's there?” Asriel asked.

“Death, of course.” for once, I was glad he came: he was a bit annoying with his huge ego, but he was pretty damn useful “You know how much I love helping those in need.”

“If I weren't dangling from your arms, I would find that funny.” the goat replied.

“You're not the same.” the cat answered “I think Felicity and Temmie are both safe up top, and I told them not to come with us. Oh, and prepare yourselves: I sense something strong down there, be careful.” just great, I thought, another fight in less than a minute...

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No strawpoll today...not tomorrow...nor any time soon!  
> In fact, we're done with strawpolls. Thanks to everyone who voted up until now, but now the alignment has been chosen and your votes are now practically useless.  
> From now on, Frisk will decide how to act on her own. Which, I believe is a good compensation for everything she's gone through up until now.  
> Also, leave comments please! I'm getting a bit lonely down here. =C


	30. Darkness: W.D. Gaster

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We met a weird guy who wanted to keep me trapped with him for absurd reasons: a fight with him turned out inevitable.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter, I completely fucked up: yet another huge typo, I called Karma in another way.  
> This is my reaction from when you first pointed out my error, 100% honest (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmrJx32xefM).  
> I hope I wrote this chapter correctly, but I didn't re-read everything so there might be some errors at the end. Hopefully nothing too bad. =3  
> Anyway, enjoy!

I thought the abyss we were slowly descending into was endless, that we would've never gotten anywhere and that our descent would've been eternal...it wasn't. At least ten minutes or so must have passed ever since we began falling, but we didn't do anything special in that period of time: we mostly kept quiet and listened to our own heartbeat, which increased steadily over time...except Death's, which stayed the same the whole time; I wondered if he even felt fear at all, considering he was the one who told us something was waiting for us at the bottom.

We landed softly thanks to Death's intervention, but it took us some time to figure out we even landed: the floor beneath us was...almost non-existent, it was as if the floor and...even the walls were the same, or weren't there at all. We were submerged in complete darkness, a darkness so thick and yet so bright we could see each other.  
“So, where is this “threat” you warned us about?” Asriel asked the black cat, which surprisingly didn't blend in with the surroundings.

“I don't know exactly what we're facing...” Death answered, unfazed “...But I can guarantee you it's here, we're looking at it right now...sort of.” I looked all around me, trying to figure out who was the cat talking about “Whoever or whatever you are, show yourself right now!” I yelled at the darkness.

“Welcome.” I heard a voice...and, at the same time, I didn't: it felt as if the words skipped my ears and appeared directly in my brain. I didn't hear a voice, I only heard words...words as empty as the void in front of us “I should be thankful...for having the opportunity to have you here at last, Frisk the human.”

A figure appeared in front of us, as if he had emerged from the very blackness before us: it wore a black robe which covered it's body completely (that is, if it even had a body to begin with), the only thing we could see was a white skull-like face with three big black holes in it, which I was led to believe were his eyes and mouth. The mouth was shaped as if he were smiling...but it didn't look like a natural smile at all: either he was forced into such a twisted expression...or that thing was completely insane.

“Who...what are you?” Asriel asked, confused and, probably, even a bit scared.

“I welcome you as well, Prince Asriel Dreemurr.” the creature spoke in the same way it did before “It is good to see you alive and well...and in the best possible body as well.” neither me nor Asriel knew how to reply to such a vague statement: we didn't know what did the creature mean by “in the best possible body”...but I had a sneaky suspicion that it had something to do with the truth Karma had whispered me about some time before.

“You still haven't told them your name.” Death kept his cool even in that weird situation “Do you want the honor of making the presentations or...”

“Oh, yes. Pardon my...inefficiency, but I have been alone contemplating for a long while and I have somewhat forgotten how to make proper introductions...” the being's eyes glowed a red light, which made it look a bit less creepy...and, at the same time, made it even creepier “My name is...doctor W.D. Gaster...I am, or rather was, a scientist and researcher.”

We stared at the creature for a while before I finally asked, a bit nervous “Well, it's good to meet you and all...but I think it's about time we leave: where's the exit?”

“There is no exit.” the doctor replied with that almost mechanical voice of his “No exit you can leave through, to be precise.” before we could protest, he explained himself further “I have no interest in keeping the Prince and the entity that wants to be called “Death” in this place, so I will let them go should they ask me so...but I have no intention of letting the human called Frisk go.”

“Hell no!” I yelled at him “I don't know who the fuck are you supposed to be, but I won't let you keep me trapped here! You better change your proposition immediately before I smash that face of yours!”

“I expected you to lash out like this.” the doctor simply replied “It is only natural, knowing the universe we are currently in.”

“What do you mean?” I asked, curiosity calming anger down a bit.

“The world we are in right now is but one of many infinite possibilities...created by the blending of specific, unchangeable premises and the outcome of very well changeable decisions. The result of these conditions created the world we are currently in...a world that I despise immensely, if I have to be honest.”

“Even though I would like an eventual further explanation, I do not think we need it right now.” Asriel made me step aside and inquired the doctor “Instead, I will ask you what reason would you have to keep Frisk trapped here with you.”

“As I said, the world we are in right now is unique: there are no duplicates when it comes to worlds, each one is very specific...I studied, and still do, each and every world, including ours.” Gaster replied “I once was a scientist, as I told you earlier: your father the King ordered me to find a way to break the barrier...however, I lacked in creativity and could not figure out a way to complete the task I was assigned to. I had only one idea: gain knowledge about the events to come and learn about the way to break the barrier...by watching it happen before it actually did happen.”

“I find that rather creative, actually.” Death pointed out “Completely insane, but creative.”

“Completely insane...yes, I could describe it so. And yet, even though it might sound unbelievable...I succeeded: I learned precise knowledge of the future...of the past...and of a lot of other things as well.”

“So there is a way to break the barrier?” Asriel asked the doctor.

“Unfortunately, there is no way to set monsterkind free in this world: by gaining knowledge of the future...I lost the capacity to hope as well. In this world, Frisk is supposed to reach the Royal Palace...to reach Asgore...but, after that, there is nothing. Absolute nothing...forever.”

“W-What? Explain yourself!” Asriel yelled at Gaster.

“Have you not understood yet? Or, perhaps, you do not want to understand?” the figure slowly rotated it's head and pierced through me with it's lifeless gaze “The world ends...with you. Once you reach the Royal Palace...everything will end. Of that, I am sure. That is why...” he returned to his previous position “...That is why I will not let the human out of this place: if she does get to the Royal Palace...everything will end, and I cannot allow that to happen.”

“You're bat-shit crazy!” I yelled at the monster “Do you seriously think I'll believe what you just said? Am I really supposed to believe the world will end just because I get somewhere? That's a huge load of bullshit right there!” Asriel supported me as well, in his own way “Indeed, I will not allow you to take her into your custody: she is my pet, not yours!”

“Besides, Karma instructed me to make sure that Frisk reaches the Royal Palace at all costs.” Death pointed out as we all got in a battle stance “I don't care about whether you're right or not: I got orders, and I will follow them...whether you like it or not.”

“I see.” Gaster replied calmly “I tried to warn you by telling you the truth...but I should have known you would have closed your ears and covered your eyes in fear.” something appeared behind him: six pairs of red, shining eyes...I had a weird sensation of deja-vù and I didn't like it one bit “I am sorry.”

The six pairs of eyes were soon revealed to belong to six weird-looking...white things...I don't know how to describe them, to be honest: they did look a bit like the skeleton, or perhaps the skull or something...but I was having a hard time realizing who could that skeleton or skull belong to. Those things were as big as a normal person and their mouth full of sharp white teeth.

Without warning, the mouths opened and six red lasers were shot at us: I would've probably wondered how did that mechanism work, how could those things shoot such powerful lasers...if I weren't busy dodging said laser, obviously. We avoided the attack just barely and we were getting read to counter-attack when Death began laughing hysterically “What nice toys you have there! I was just looking for them...” I turned towards him: he was preparing something in his right hand “I think I will take them!” he opened his fist and some black chains appeared from inside, which he somehow launched at the laser-shooting creatures without really doing anything. Once the chains landed, the creatures began trembling as they emitted black electricity from their bodies: the color of their body changed from bright white to shining black as the lights in their eyes turned deep purple.

“I've been aching to try these things for a while now!” the black cat smirked as the creatures flew (or rather floated) from where they previously were to right next to us.

“Have you really done what I think you just did?” Asriel asked the feline.

“Does it look like anything else?” he replied, still cocky. He turned towards our opponent, who seemed unfazed by everything that happened so far and yelled “Get set to get rekt.” the lasers inside the creatures Death had submitted began charging once again, but the light inside of them was purple instead of red this time.

“I do not think so.” the doctor disappeared into thin air as the lasers were shot at him, evading them completely. We looked around trying to find him, but we only found more of those white things coming our way as they shot more lasers at us, we used our own weaponry to take them down, Death assuring me that they weren't living beings. However, I was having more trouble than my companions destroying those things: my bullets weren't hitting as hard as Death's Blasters, as he called them, or as Asriel's fireballs.

That charade continued for a while before our real opponent showed himself again: we were fighting an endless and tiresome battle against those flying blasters when the entire space around us began shaking and a huge white blaster, as big as an entire building, emerged from the shadows, Gaster on top of it.

Death was ecstatic, he couldn't contain his excitement “Oh my, that thing's turning me on more than nude pics of my fiancé!”

“Really?” Asriel asked him, dubious.

“No, but it's a close second.” the cat recovered his calm attitude rather quickly “But I do want to borrow that huge blaster as well, if you know what I mean.”

Suddenly, the huge blaster's mouth opened as it began charging what looked like a laser of massive proportions “Guys, can we just get the fuck out of here?” I asked, scared.

Death somehow ordered his blasters to get in a peculiar formation: five of them positioned themselves behind the sixth one with their backs turned, forming a pentagon. The cat ordered us to jump on the main blaster, which we did: he then asked us to hold tight as the blasters behind us shot their lasers and propelled us forward. This complicated maneuver ended up saving our lives, as the giant laser missed us by mere inches.

“Could you not simply use your teleportation abilities to take us somewhere else?” Asriel asked.  
“Something here is blocking my power.” he answered.

Even though Asriel was more preoccupied by the more...technical issues at hand, I was interested in something else “So...do you really have a fiancé?” I asked the cat, a huge grin on my face.

“My personal life is off-limits.” he negated me an answer “Now, if you could please keep shooting those things that are coming towards us...” he was right: the little blasters hadn't stopped pursuing us and we now had to shoot them while flying.

Since Death was using his blasters to make us fly away from the huge blaster's range, he couldn't use them to attack the ones charging us: he decided to switch to his sniper rifle instead, which he used with deadly precision. We soon understood, however, that destroying the little things wasn't taking us anywhere: more and more of them kept coming at us every second, emerging from the corners of the room. The only hope we had of ending the conflict and securing our escape was to defeat the puppet master, doctor Gaster.

I decided it was about time we attacked directly “Okay, here's the plan: you're going to drop me and Asriel off right above that huge thing, then we'll fight that mad scientist as you fly around and protect us.”

“Sounds reasonable enough.” Asriel approved my plan “We can commence right now.”

“Fine by me.” the cat said as we flew over the huge blaster “Three, two, one, go!” he flipped the blaster upside-down, sending me and Asriel falling towards the blaster as he, somehow, held on to his weapons.

We landed gracefully on the huge blaster, a few feet away from the doctor which stared at us almost soullessly “As much as I despise myself for not allowing you to go, I cannot allow you to destroy the entire world: please, reconsider.”

“I don't think so.” I replied “It's time to be bad, you sick freak!”

“What a nice catchphrase, too bad it is emulating another catchphrase I know of.” Gaster commented mysteriously “It does not matter, however. Come at me, if you so desire.”

I charged at the man hoping to hit him in melee, but he teleported away before I could hit him and summoned a blaster in his place: I had to dodge the laser and destroy the weapon before I could return my attention to my opponent.

When I did finish destroying the blaster, I heard some commotion behind me: Asriel was trying to hit the monster with his black fireballs, to no avail. The doctor couldn't stay still for one millisecond straight and kept summoning those pesky blasters in his place and all around him, which Asriel was having trouble dealing with.

“Frisk, attack him with your guns!” Asriel suggested me “He does not seem as powerful as the weapon he uses, I think a few of your bullets should suffice.” I thought so as well: I diverted my full attention to the doctor while the Prince shielded me from the blaster's attacks.

However, even though I was shooting literally everywhere and my attacks were extremely fast, it seemed impossible to actually hit the goddamn bastard: his speed exceeded even my own, it looked like he was everywhere and nowhere at the same time. I was shooting mirages, but I eventually had to hit something, I thought.

That's when I heard something right behind me: I turned around only to face a blaster pointed right at my face, which shot as soon as I came in contact with it. I rolled all over the blaster until Asriel's legs stopped me: my whole body ached and I found breathing pretty difficult, but I couldn't give up and I somehow managed to stand up, even though Asriel had to help me to do so.

“Prince, I know you are not a fool.” the blasters stopped attacking us as the doctor stood some feet away from Asriel “You cannot win this battle, and you know it. I promise you to never harm the girl in any way, so I do not understand why you would not surrender.”

“Do you really want to know why we won't give up?” I heard a little of Chara's voice in Asriel's, but I could've imagined it “Because Frisk...is our property, not yours! And you...you won't ever take her away from us!” I felt a different kind of energy emanating from Asriel: usually I felt both warmth and coldness, but this time I felt...something else, something that was neither cold nor warm. His hands glowed both black and white, it was as if light and darkness coexisted in the attack he was preparing. The doctor didn't teleport away: big mistake on his part.

“Take this!” Asriel moved his hands towards Gaster, unleashing the magic he was storing: Gaster didn't move...in fact, he didn't seem capable too. He was now surrounded by darkness, which probably prevented him from moving or even summoning his blasters to aid him.

“Now!” he shouted at me, and I gathered all the energy I had left to charge the monster and point a gun right at his face; when the magic ended and the darkness disappeared, the lights in the doctor's eyes looked at the gun intently as he expressed his perplexity “Impressive. I never thought you could have ever done something like this...in fact, I have never seen anything like this happen at all.”

“Aren't you going to teleport away or anything like that?” I asked, realizing how faulty Asriel's plan was if I weren't aiming to kill Gaster.

“As much as I hate to admit it, I lost. You could kill me in this precise moment, so I will act as if that happened and admit my defeat: you have proven your strength to me, how pointless that may be, and as such there is no need for my unnecessary death.” the flying blasters all around the room disappeared in the darkness from which they came from as the huge one we were standing on landed on the ground.

Both me, Asriel and Death made our way to the floor, while Gaster teleported there instead.

As the cat proceeded to add the huge blaster to his arsenal, which the doctor didn't seem to mind too much, our captor told us “Even though all worlds are unique, there are some constants that repeat themselves in all of them...or almost all of them. One of them, for example, is my death: I was supposed to die in the experiment that granted me the power to see all worlds...but I did not. I do not know the reason why I was spared...but I do know that it scarred me profoundly: I had learned too much information and I eventually lost my sanity.”

“Who wouldn't, considering you saw the future?” I proved some kind of pity for the man “I know I would, especially if it were as grim as you described it.”

“That is not all: I became scared of everything, I was scared something I could have done could have made everything even worse, that my intervention would have destroyed the little balance this had left. I left my family, my sons...and that made them even worse. I should have stayed with them, taught them not to become what this world had in store for them...but I did not. I hate to admit it, but I was useful to nothing at all.”

“Oh, come on! You can't say something like that!” I told the doctor.

“While I appreciate your mercy, I am not asking for your pity.” Gaster replied “I tried to stop you, but I failed. I did all I could to avoid the complete destruction of our world. All I am comfortable doing, of course.” I wondered if that meant he would let us go “The only thing I can do now is, ironically, hope. I have to trust you, trust that you will somehow be able to erase the shadows that prevent me from looking forward.”

I heard a door open somewhere behind me, a good hundred feet away from our current position: I couldn't quite see what was beyond said door, but I was fine with whatever was on the other side.  
“You may go.” the scientist dismissed us.

“Is that really it?” Asriel asked, confused “Are you seriously letting us go so easily?”

“Unlike my son, I do not have a passion for jokes.” I wondered who his sons could have been, or if I even met them without realizing “Now go before I change my mind.”

Both me and my companions began walking toward the exit, but I suddenly heard the doctor's voice inside my head “I know you have met a cat named “Karma” many times over the course of your journey. Surely by now you must know that he is not who he says he is, but his lies do not end there.” I turned towards Asriel and Death: from the looks of it, they weren't hearing anything.

“He spoke about “Karma” some time ago, am I correct? Even though he explained it ominously and made it look like he was speaking the truth, I have to tell you that Karma, in this world, does not exist, and he, along with his other friends, knows it perfectly well. However, I am not telling you this to make you lose all faith in him: the only possible way we might all get a happy ending goes through him, after all...farewell, Frisk the human. Find that cat, and restore our future.” with those words, we departed.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to the last section of this fic, "Darkness": shit got real, and I hope you got a taste of what's to come with this chapter.  
> However, the real "Darkness" will begin from next chapter: stay tuned boys and girls, because this is going to get grim. And fun, for me. =3


	31. Darkness: Secrets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We ended up in a weird, fucked up place...a lot of bad things happened, but somehow we were still alive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is a bit short because I decided to split this chapter in two. You'll understand the reason why soon enough.  
> Also, I finished this chapter at midnight, so there might be some errors, especially at the end. Feel free to point any errors out in the comment section.  
> I hope you enjoy! =3

Still thinking about the doctor's tragic story and wondering about how much I could trust the cat named Karma, I kept walking towards the door that opened in the distance. I was right behind Asriel who, in turn, was right behind Death: he was the first one to enter the small cranny that led to a place that looked blurred through the fissure in front of us.

“I'm going first, see you on the other side.” the cat told us as he entered the door and disappeared without a trace.  
“Stay close to me.” Asriel ordered, calm but decisive “Who knows what could be on the other side.” indeed, we both feared the unknown that the entrance led to...especially knowing that we weren't sure we could completely trust the man who seemingly created it for us. However, we couldn't stay in that place forever: still dubious but determined, we entered the door and found ourselves somewhere we had never been in before...a place I would've gladly preferred never to see.

It looked like a laboratory...a ruined laboratory, to be precise: the entire place looked ancient and destroyed, as if it had been abandoned a long time ago. The tables in the room we were in were either destroyed, flipped or, in some fortunate cases, still somewhat decent. The entire floor was covered by glass shards, which probably once were containers and test tubes considering there were still some left on some shelves in a corner of the room. There were no light sources in the area, which forced Asriel to use his magic to show us exactly where we were.

Overall, the place we were in terrified me even more than the one we had just come from: the only feeling that place gave me...was some sort of sick, perverse dread that didn't seem related to the horrible state the laboratory was in. Something was up, I was sure of it.

“Where's Death?” Asriel asked me, perplexed “He said he would have waited for us...but he's nowhere to be seen.” he was right, there was no sign of the black ill-tempered cat in the room.

“Maybe he went ahead before us.” I examined all the possible explanations “...Perhaps he ended up in another place altogether.”

“It's possible.” the Prince considered my conclusion carefully “...Either way, we cannot stay idle: we have to move on, find a way out of this place.” I agreed, we had no reason to be in such place...or did we? I had a feeling that we hadn't ended up in that place by chance, that there was something I needed to do before I left.

I felt...something in the air change and I turned backwards: the door we used to enter that laboratory had vanished, trapping us in. Now I was sure, we needed to find a way out as soon as possible.

“You're barefoot, watch out for the glass shards.” I advised my friend “I'm going first, you stay right behind me, okay?”

“Since when did you become the leader?” he asked me mockingly “Did I miss a memo or something?”

“What, do you have something against that?” I crossed my arms and looked at him annoyed.

“Oh, I am perfectly fine with that.” he nonchalantly answered “Really, I am. Let us move on though, we do not have time for idiotic squabbling.”

The room we were in had so many doors, I found choosing our next destination rather difficult; however, I soon knew where to head next...not because I found a map of that place or anything, I just...felt like I knew the right way “Over there.” I pointed at a nearby door and walked up to it, then entered the room it led to.

We found ourselves in a small corridor: it's smallness was most likely caused by the many interconnected tubs attached to the walls. From the looks of it, the only other door was right on the other side of the corridor, which was somewhat long.

“What is this...” Asriel crouched and touched the white floor with his paw “This is...dust...it's all over the floor...” his expression was terrified and disgusted, whatever he found out was causing great distress in him.

“What do you mean?” I asked, confused “What's so scary about dust?”

“Have I never told you?” he looked at me, still scared “Monsters turn to dust when they die...and the floor's full of it.” I looked at the floor: indeed, the dust was everywhere...had monsters really died in that place? “How many?” I asked, now slightly unsettled as well. “Too many.” he answered, too afraid and confused to give me a precise number “What the Hell happened in here...”

That's when we heard it: a horrible noise, coming from somewhere in front of us. Asriel pointed his flame towards the source of the noise, lighting it up some more to give us perfect vision of what we were dealing with. I wish he hadn't done it.

Something emerged from a tub near the exit, something...monstrous, almost demonic: whatever it was, it stirred fear in me, almost drove me to madness...I can't even describe it properly, for fuck's sake. But I do remember something: it reminded me of some of the monsters I had met on my journey, physically speaking. But it looked...warped, as if multiple bodies had been fused in one, single, white amalgamation. Disgusting...

The creature yowled both in pain and anger as it charged towards us, slowly but steadily. We weren't ready to deal with whatever that creature was, but we had to fight it somehow: I mustered all my courage and charged at the creature, shooting at it with my guns. My attack proved ineffective, however, as that thing...ate all my bullets with it's skin as they hit it. I was never going to attack that thing directly, I thought: a melee attack would've probably damaged me more than it would've damaged him.

The creature tried to hit me with it's arm...if we could call an arm the horrendous weird-looking limb that was attached to it's body: thankfully, I managed to dodge the attack in time. Evidently, fear hadn't paralyzed me completely, as I still had full control over my body.

Even though he was still busy holding the precious red and black light that allowed us to see, Asriel tried to attack the amalgamation as well, but his flames were just as weak as my bullets: that thing chewed our magic just like a lawn mower chews grass. Our ranged attacks were ineffective and fear prevented us from attacking him directly...there was no way we could've ever beat that thing.  
We heard another noise coming from right behind us: another one of those creatures had emerged from a tub near the entrance and was slowly making it's way towards us...we were cornered. Fighting one of those things proved impossible already...fighting two of them would've been downright suicide. We had to get out of that room immediately “Quick! Run for it!” I yelled at Asriel, which understood my plan and began running towards the other side of the corridor: we both managed to avoid the creature that was blocking the way, as it wasn't so big it blocked the hallway and it's attacks were rather easy to predict, and got near the exit.  
We entered the next room, shut the door and blocked it with a nearby drawer, which surprisingly managed to stay still as the amalgamations hammered the door with all that they had: the fact that the door could resist all those attacks with ease made me wonder if, perhaps, it had been built precisely for that purpose.

“What the fuck were those things?” I asked Asriel, still shocked, hoping that he could've known something about the creatures we had just encountered. He shook his head as he answered he had no idea, that he had never seen anything like that in his whole life.

“When I was a kid, I did all sorts of things to my plushies...” Asriel told me, more quiet than usual “...But not even I could have ever conceived such wretched...things...” he shivered in horror as he asked aloud the same question I had been asking myself all this time “Just what happened...or is happening in this place?”  
We both heard a noise coming from a nearby room: it could've been caused by another one of those amalgamations...or by someone else, someone like me or Asriel “Only one way to find out.” I replied.

Before we left the room, I inspected it in search of something that could've helped us unravel that mystery: apart from a few empty metal drawers, though, there was nothing important in that room specifically. It looked more like a small hub than an actual room, in fact. The floor was still covered in dust though; as a side note, I can't even begin to comprehend how tremendous it must have been for Asriel, who was forced to walk on the remains of monsters' corpses barefoot...I wouldn't have done it even if they paid me to do so.

Anyway, we entered the room that was the closest to the sound we had just heard: this one was much bigger than the other one, even bigger than the one we first entered too, but I couldn't understand the reason for it though. There didn't seem to be anything special about that room, it looked more or less like a hub like the other one...until we saw it.

A huge, creepy machine just...hanging from the ceiling, suspended above a chair that was covered in dust and...other unknown liquids. The device looked like a huge skull and was as big as half of the room: I was surprised I didn't see it before...even though I would've gladly unseen it.

“Asriel...” I whispered “...I'm scared...” to be honest, I had never been scared over the course of my journey before: it was then, in that ruined laboratory, that I learned the true meaning of fear...the true meaning of regret.

“Me too...” Asriel replied, his tone just as low as my own “I can't-” I was surprised he didn't finish his statement, so I turned to face him: he was holding his head tightly with his paws, trying to control what looked like a sudden headache. I tried to help him, but whatever happened to him soon happened to me as well: inexplicably, I didn't feel pain...but sadness, grief, remorse. It felt as if all the emotions I had never proved before struck me at once, and they hurt me quite a lot as I lost consciousness and collapsed on the floor...

  
_I dreamed that I was a hero..._

“ _ **Y-You really hate me that much? Now I see who I was protecting by keeping you here...not you...but them!**_ _”_

_I dreamed that I saved everyone..._

“ _ **S-Still! I believe in you! You can do a little better! Even if you don't think so!**_ _”_

_But, as with every dream..._

“ _ **If you think I'm gonna give up hope, you're wrong. Cause I've...got my friends behind me.**_ _”_

_You have to wake up, eventually._

“ _ **You've been busy, huh?**_ _”  
And face reality._

“ _ **You dirty brother killer.**_ _”_

_It's all my fault._

“ _ **Since when were you the one in control?**_ _”_

 

I woke up covered in sweat, laying on the floor of the laboratory. How long had I been sleeping? Was I even still alive, knowing those...creatures were roaming the place? I was legitimately surprised that I was already this awake after only a few seconds.

Asriel.

I got up and looked for him: he was laying on the floor right next to me, still sleeping. Sleeping...he was having a goddamn nightmare from the looks of it, it looked as if his very Soul was being sucked out of his mouth.

I held his face carefully with my hands and tried to wake him up “Come on, you have to wake up! Wake up for fuck's sake!” I eventually managed, after a lot of shaking, to wake him up: it took a while, but late is better than never. He looked shaken, as if he had just experienced something...traumatic.

“Are you okay?” I asked, worried.

“Frisk, is that you?” that wasn't Asriel's voice: that was Chara, and I wondered why they were the ones in charge “I've just...had the worst nightmare in my entire life. Which is saying a lot.” I wondered, for a brief moment, if my nightmare and his were connected...I hoped not.

He got up, even if it took him quite a while to regain balance, and told me, preoccupied “Asriel isn't answering me: I fear he's still dreaming.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” I asked, not wanting to believe that my friend could still be trapped inside his own mind “Then wake him up! You share the same body, don't you?”

“That doesn't mean anything...” they began walking, trying to clear their mind or at least to diminish the stress “Look, even I don't fully understand how the body me and Asriel share works...but when I say I can't wake him up, I'm not kidding. Something's preventing me from even talking to him...”

“Then I'll do it.” he turned towards me, confused “I said I'll do it. Now come closer so I can kiss you.”

“Wait, what?” his perplexity was understandable, as I too wondered if I had suddenly gone crazy without even noticing: looking back to it, however, I don't regret anything. If negative emotions were responsible for Asriel's nightmare, well...maybe more positive emotions would've woke him up.

“Look, just trust me.” I hugged the goat like a person would hug their lover, for...reasons “And you better enjoy it.”

“How could I possibly not enjoy it?” I wasn't sure if he was being sarcastic or not, but I do know that he was the one who kissed me first: I was a bit taken aback by his sudden change of opinion, but it only mattered one second. I kissed that idiot the best I could...hoping to break him free of his nightmare. Yeah, that's why I kissed him. Totally. No other reason at all, I swear.

It lasted for a good twenty seconds at least before I heard the lips on the other end moving as I heard Asriel's unmistakable voice say “We can stop kissing. If you want, that is.”

I stopped immediately and backed off right away: I was thankful, surprised and slightly annoyed all at once, all due to my plan working. I admit, I was getting used to that kiss...I could've kissed him all day long...I mean, if it were necessary of course.

“You know, I had the strangest and wildest of dreams...” a second later he added “Oh, you did as well?”

“Me too.” I answered “You're a bit late to the party, you know?”

“I believe so.” he answered, with that shit-eating grin of his “I've been missing a ton of memos lately, huh?”

A short pause ensued before I asked Asriel, mocking “Well, did I play the part of the prince waking up his princess well?”

“Is this yet another joke on... _that_ thing?” I nodded. I would've never let go of Asriel's weird sexuality as a kid, I planned to use that secret to blackmail him for the rest of my life.

We would've probably spent some more time joking and mocking each other if we hadn't heard that noise once again: it seemed to come from further inside the facility. It sounded like some sort of device was being activated. I doubted even one of those walking blobs of shit could've ever even turned on the light, so I was more than confident that someone else was in the building...besides us and those creatures, of course.

“I would love to converse with you about _that_ a bit more...” I leered at the Prince “But I think we should find the source of that noise as soon as possible.”

“Fine by me.” Asriel replied as we began delving deeper into that facility “Oh, one more thing.” he said.

“What?” I asked.

“Don't ever tell anyone about that kiss.” his cheeks were as red as wine, he was struggling to not let me know he was embarrassed...in vain “Seriously, don't ever do that.”

“Maybe I will, maybe I won't.” I answered as I winked at him “Seriously though, let's continue. I'm tired of this place.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter is coming is sooner than before, most likely either Thursday or, if I can make it, tomorrow.  
> Who cares about "waiting some days" anymore? It's Summer! And, in Summer, you pump out chapters like crazy! =3


	32. Darkness: Alphys

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We found out both who the person we were chasing was and what did they want.  
> After an unnecessarily long explanation, a lot of things happened in a very short amount of time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, this chapter is pretty long! But it's also most likely full of errors, for the usual reasons.  
> I would like you to warn me of any errors I made, as I will fix them as soon as I get up next morning. Basically you're all beta-testing! =3  
> Anyway, I hope you enjoy!

Navigating that maze-like laboratory proved quite difficult for the both of us: all the rooms felt quite similar and multiple times we had the impression of going in circles. Only those weird noises of devices activating gave us a means of understanding where the “right way” was...and, even then, they usually led to dead ends.

We kept encountering those...creatures as well: they were everywhere, always spying on us...we soon learned never to lower our guards even in rooms that were seemingly safe. There were no safe zones in that cursed place, it felt as if we had just been thrown in an horror movie. We understood pretty much immediately that, if rooms were blocked, there was at least one good reason not to enter them. There was no clear way of defeating those amalgamations, so we preferred to avoid combat whenever we could and to run away at the speed of light whenever we were forced into a fight.

We spent a good quarter of an hour at least trying to reach whatever other sentient being was in that laboratory, in vain. Until we finally found a clue: we had just heard that sound again and we figured out it was coming from an adjacent room, which we entered immediately. That room wasn't special in the slightest: apart from a few sinks attached to the eastern wall, it would've been identical to a few others we had visited...if it weren't for a weird device flashing in the middle of the room.

It looked like some kind of black box, but it flashed a red light every now and then and emitted a weird sound I can't exactly describe: it seemed like a clock's ticking, but more...dark, if that makes sense. As if it were distorted, for reasons unknown.

“What is this thing?” I asked, curious.

“It does not look good at all.” Asriel answered, still unsure of what we were facing “It could be anything...let's see if we can crack open this thing.” he was about to use his magic to bust open the device, but I stopped him “Wait, stop! It could be dangerous or something! Let's see if there's a way to open it...naturally first.”

There was, indeed, a way to open that thing: a button located on the side of the box, which split it in two revealing it's contents. Apparently, I had called misfortune upon us once again: from the tanks with the nuclear sign upon them to the timer thankfully still immobile, it looked like we had found an explosive bomb of some sort.

“You almost blew us up with that stupid temper of yours!” I reprimanded the Prince for his stupidity.

“It's your fault for suggesting it could have been a bomb!” he jokingly tried to blame me “I bet if you kept your mouth shut, this device would have been something else entirely! Like an ice-cream machine!”  
“Oh yeah, because someone's totally going to drop an ice-cream machine in the middle of this fucking place...” I couldn't help but chuckle a bit as I replied to the goat “Anyway, we should keep moving: we need to find whoever set us up the bomb” I couldn't believe I had made such a simple mistake “I mean, whoever set up this bomb before...well...we explode.”

“Then let us move already.” Asriel walked towards the room we believed the culprit had fled to, smirking “I am too beautiful to die.” I had something to say about that...nah, I'm joking. But he was a bit too cocky in my opinion...it reminded me too much of myself, that's why I didn't like it.

Surprisingly, our search became much easier from that point onward: ever since we left that room, we entered a series of uninhabited corridors...whoever left that explosive in the first place had to be nearby, there was no way they could've escaped us this time. As for us, we ran as fast as we could, but we tried to be quiet as well as to surprise whoever was in there with us.

Eventually, we arrived at this...huge door, as tall as the wall itself: we were sure that whoever we were following was inside, as we could hear some noises from the inside, sighs to be more precise.

We needed to act, quickly...and, since busting the door would've been quite difficult considering it's bigness, we had to do so slowly and quietly as well.

We therefore opened the door: it made a screeching sound that we had not heard before for some reason, but that the culprit surely had to have heard. We entered a big circular room, with no furniture in it apart from a bench right in the middle of the room. On that bench sit...Alphys, the Royal Scientist, wearing what looked like a fusion between a lab coat and a wedding dress, both white and black. She still wore those odd glasses that didn't let me see her eyes clearly, but she did look quite depressed.

As soon as she noticed us, she yelled “C-Close the door!” I knew why she had ordered me to do so: it had something to do with those creatures that we had encountered so far...even though it had been a while since we last encountered one of those things, it wouldn't have been unlikely for one of them to sneak in the room while we were distracted and attack us...I agreed, before anything could be done, we had to assure our survival. I asked Asriel to help me shut the door, which he did even though he would've gladly preferred some explanations before anything else.

After we had finished that important chore, I asked the monster, who had the decency of staying right where she was “What are you doing down here?”  
“I should be the one asking you that.” she answered, still a bit nervous “T-The laboratory is mine, after all.” I was a bit confused, I thought her laboratory was the one in Hotland, which was definitely less creepy, even if a bit weirder, than the one we were in. I inquired the dinosaur-lady about it, who answered “That one? That's more or less my living quarters...this is the “true laboratory”...this is where I work, day and night.” I bet we were about to hear another fucked-up story, and I hoped a fight wouldn't have ensued.

“Pardon me if we have to repeat ourselves...” Asriel told Alphys “...But I believe you still have not answered our initial question. So...what are you doing down here?” even though we wanted to make her believe we had the upper hand, we were scared of her: all those bombs she had placed had not been activated yet...which probably meant she had some means of activating them from a distance. We needed to be careful and to not make rash decisions, as our very lives were at stake.

“Before I tell you what I'm doing right now, I should probably tell you...what I've done.” she turned the other way, as if trying to forget about our presence...only to sigh and turn towards us and look at us in the eyes “N-No, I should be facing my problems directly, even if it's the last thing I do.” those words surely didn't inspire confidence in me, but I readied myself to listen to her explanation.

“I've been working as a Royal Scientist ever since the previous one, doctor W.D. Gaster, disappeared mysteriously.” she told us “My objective, obviously, was to find a way to break the barrier and set us all free...I personally didn't care about our freedom all that much: I joined solely to further my understanding of the sciences. I had always been a nerd, but I lacked the funds I needed to make of science my profession...but now, I was free to do what I wanted.” she smiled as she finished that sentence, probably remembering happy memories of times long gone “...If I knew what my research would've led to, I would've probably killed myself a long time ago. I swear, if I could've foreseen...the consequences...”

“Please, tell us more about what you've discovered.” I asked, as politely as I could. It wasn't in my style to be so formal with people I didn't like, but...I didn't have a choice, I feared.

“S-Sorry, I should probably get to the point. So, It had been like, a year since I began working and I wasn't making any progress: King Asgore was becoming more and more impatient, and I knew if I didn't prove my worth ASAP I would've been...executed. But one night, I had the wildest of dreams...and, when I woke up, I found it. A potential way to break the barrier...sort of.”

“What kind of dream?” I asked, suspicious.

“I don't remember, it was a long time ago...” she answered as she held her head tightly with her hands “...I remember seeing me work on a project and when I woke up...I knew what I had to do. That's all I remember.” a bit strange, but I believed her. I was inclined to believe that the dream she had had been at least somewhat similar to the ones we had had mere minutes before.

“Anyway, as I was saying, I began working on this new power source I had just discovered... _Determination_. And I'm not talking about a mineral or a gas...I'm talking about pure Determination, a source of energy that can only be extracted from living things.” she tried to find a clear way to explain the concept “Determination is...that thing that keeps us going, that gives us the strength to pursue our goals, no matter what they are. Our will to live...our will to survive. Totally green too...or red, I should say.” she cracked a laugh, then she turned towards me specifically and asked “Do you know what is required to get through the barrier?”

I tried to remember, I knew Asriel had explained me that some time before “If I remember correctly, a power equal to that of a human Soul and a boss monster Soul is required. So, a monster can only pass the barrier if he absorbs a human Soul...correct?”

“That's what they sell you.” she said “But reality is much simpler than that: a monster does not require a human Soul in order to traverse the barrier, he only needs an amount of Determination equal to that of a human and a boss monster in order to do so. My idea was to harvest determination from living monsters and inject it in another monster...like the King...” she eyed at Asriel before returning to her explanation “...In order for him to pass through the barrier and harvest enough Souls to destroy the barrier for good.” a brilliant idea...even though I knew something had gone horribly wrong in her plan “The first to come were soon-to-be-executed criminals and dissidents...that's when I began noticing it.” she began trembling and twitching “Without Determination...they died. They turned to dust.” she gulped and continued “Either that or their bodies just...stopped moving. They either died partially or completely...and I wasn't sure of what could be described as the better fate. It would've been fine if it had been only them...but they were only the first. Others followed them: first the terminally ill, then the elderly, then...anyone who was unlucky enough. I never even bothered to clean the floor, their lives meant so little to me...”

“You could've refused!” Asriel yelled at her “Why didn't you stop? Why did you kill so many people? The end would've never justified the means!”

“You don't know anything about me!” she yelled at him in return “It was either me or them! It's survival of the fittest down here, and their lives surely didn't matter more than mine!” she noticed her sudden burst of ire and calmed herself down “...That's what I thought, at least. Besides, I was making progress: I soon managed to prepare the prototype of a Determination-based compound that would've fulfilled the King's wildest dreams. I just needed to test it...”

“On other unwilling citizens, I bet.” I hypothesized.

“Exactly.” she looked downwards, completely evading my gaze: I believed we had reached the worst part of the tale “...Normal monsters don't have enough physical matter to handle high amounts of Determination. As soon as I injected them with the prototype, their bodies began twisting and warping as they cried in pain...I wish I could say that's all that happened, but the situation got much worse: as I said, I never cleaned up the dust on the floor...and I never disposed of the lifeless bodies either. After those monsters began melting and going insane, they began...eating those carcasses...that made their bodies even more contorted, that made them become...what I call the “amalgamates”. I'm sure you met them on your way here, didn't you?” we nodded, remembering vividly all the emotions we proved while confronting them “I'm not entirely sure if they are sentient, if they act on instinct...or they're downright insane. I don't know what to believe...what I _want_ to believe...”

“Is there a way to...cure them?” I asked, not knowing what to say “There has to be a way to bring them back to normal...isn't there?”

“I'm afraid it's not that simple.” she answered, trying to look at me in the eyes but failing miserably “First off, they can't die, which means we can't euthanize them. Secondly, as it stands right now, I don't have the instrument or the time to find a cure...if there even is one, which I highly doubt. Asgore's got other priorities, after all...and I have to follow them.”

“Which are?” I inquired.

“Producing Determination.” she answered “The amalgamate failure, while tragic...taught me how to perfect the formula. I gave it to some boss monsters, who I was sure would've handled the power of the compound, to test it further...all of them confirmed that it worked smoothly. Especially Undyne.” she laughed so darkly she unsettled me “I took that data and perfected the compound even more. I created the ultimate amalgamation, excuse me for the choice of words...but, most importantly, I gave it to Lord Asgore.”

“You did what?” I asked, speechless.

“P-Precisely.” she replied, unnerved “But then I heard about what you did in Hotland from Mettaton, about what you did in Waterfall by Undyne...and I can figure out what happened in Snowland too.” she was on the verge of crying “You spared so many people...and you helped so many others. The entire Underground stands with you and...me too. You are the change everyone wanted since Asgore...became what he is. I shouldn't have given him that compound, I should've ran away with Undyne and the others and-”

“What are you doing down here?” Asriel asked for the third time, way too calm.

She took a while to answer “Asgore asked me to blow this place up.” she grabbed something from the inside of her lab coat's pocket: a syringe, filled with a red liquid “Because he knew I still had one of these left. He didn't mention anything about the amalgamates, but...another reason to destroy this place is to make sure they never, ever get to the Underground. I can't imagine what could happen if they did in their current state...”

“You are not here only to blow this place up, are you?” Asriel asked, knowing what the answer would've been...deep down, I knew what it would've been as well: I just...wished I was wrong.

“I'm going to kill myself as well.” she answered as she cried “I made so many people suffer...I don't want to live anymore! Even if you bring down Asgore, even if the world changes for the better...I don't want to carry the burden of my sins any longer! That's why...I'm going to stay here as this place crumbles.” what a pathetic way to escape her past...I couldn't let her do it. I had to stop her...

“That's a load of bullshit.” I replied “Do you really think killing yourself will make your sins magically go away? No: they will follow you in Hell, haunting you for the rest of eternity! If you want to correct your errors, then do it! I fucking hate when people run away from problems they can easily solve!” If my “Determination” had been a half of my anger in that moment...Alphys wouldn't have had to go through the trouble of killing so many monsters “Every moment you spend crying over spilled milk is a wasted moment you could've spent helping those creatures! If there's someone who can't only save them, but help the entire Underground as well is you!”

“B-But...I did so many mistakes...I'm not a scientist, I'm a jester!”

“Well fuck you miss jester, but you fucked up and nobody's going to clean the shit you made!” I kept on yelling at her “So either you stop sitting on your lazy, sorry ass or there won't be any need for explosions: I will be the one who will send you to your maker!” I hoped she didn't welcome my threat and actually stood up for once. She became silent and just...sat there, without even looking at us. I didn't know what she was thinking...but I prayed that the reason why she was taking so long to answer was that she was actually considering my offer.

We heard banging at the door we had entered from: a loud banging noise as if...someone were desperately trying to enter. Or something.  
“They're...here...” Alphys began to panic “Okay, calm down: this is the safe room, the door can resist a few-” the banging continued and some punches even deviated the metal the door was made of “...How many did you two wake up?” she asked, scared shitless.  
“At least a dozen...” I answered, just as terrified as she was.  
“You goddamn idiots...” she took out a small telephone from her lab coat's pocket “...You drove them all right here! That door is powerful, but...it won't last very long. I...I think this might be it.” she ran towards me and handed me the phone, along with the syringe full of Determination “I don't know what to do...so I'll let you decide. Get us out of here...alive, possibly.” either blow the whole place up and hope that we found a way to survive, somehow...or use the syringe and hope that it were enough to take those bastards down: either way, chances weren't in my favor.

The door got blasted wide open and we had to step back a little in order to not get crushed: a horde of amalgamates slowly made his way toward us, ready to attack “Frisk! Do something!” Asriel screamed at me.  
Just as I was about to make a decision, I heard a squeaky voice I knew all too well “Cheers love! The cavalry's here!” the roof behind us exploded, creating an insane amount of debris and dust. Three figures emerged from the cloud of dust the explosion had created: Death, Undyne and Felicity, who was sitting atop Death's shoulder “Just in time!” she congratulated her and her friends' entrance.

“Stop quoting that annoying brit girl.” Death reprimanded her “We've got three idiots to save.”

“Hey, Alphys!” Undyne yelled at her...fiancé? “I've come to rescue you!”

“Undyne!” she seemed surprised that the fish-lady had come “I-I...”

“Shut up! Those imbeciles have already wasted enough time on cheesy one-liners!” Asriel yelled as he used all his strength to lift Alphys “We need to get out of here, now!”

We ran towards the trio, who showed us a rope: our means of escape. After the prince threw the dinosaur in the hands of the fish, who surprisingly did a much better job of holding her, we all grabbed the rope and we were hastily pulled upwards, away from the amalgamates...

 

“How the Hell did you even know we were down there?” I asked Death, curious.

We had been transported back to the arena in the Core, which was being repaired as we spoke. Apart from the two cats and Undyne, we were now in a big group together with Temmie, who had devised the mechanism who pulled us back to safety in, apparently, mere minutes, Napstablook and Mettaton, who were busy making sure the repairs were going smoothly and had briefly left, and, surprisingly, Papyrus as well. Yup, the idiotic skeleton himself...I was curious as to his motives for being there, but a chat with him could've waited.

“Let's just say someone tipped us off.” he pointed upwards and invited me to guess.

“Karma?” I asked.

“Karma.” the answer felt as predictable as the Sun in the sky...not that I could really see it down there, as we weren't in the right place or in the right time to see it.

“Hey, I was the one who prepared the rescue operation!” Felicity stared angrily at her friend.

“Yeah, you totally did all the work.” the small cat was angered by the big one's response, but she preferred not to reply and instead smiled at her cheesy friend.

“Hey.” Undyne asked to talk with me “Thanks for helping my babe down there: if you hadn't been there...I don't even want to think of what Alphy could've done.” she looked sad, but tried to stay as calm and composed as she could “I should've known. If she had told me about everything she had done earlier...then everything could've been avoided.”

“Don't worry about that.” I reassured her “You did all you could to help her, of that I'm sure. If you hadn't supported her like you did all this time, I'm sure she would've killed herself a long time ago.”

“How d'you know?” she asked me, curious.

“I guess I just...know it.” I answered, unsure. She knew I didn't want to explicate further so she let me go; just as I thought I could finally talk to Alphys, Papyrus approached me “Human! It's been a long while, hasn't it?” and here I thought I could've forgot his annoying voice...

“It sure has...” I looked away, seriously not in the mood for a conversation with that guy; I then remembered there was something I wanted to ask him “Did you get that promotion you wanted? You didn't show up when I fought Undyne after all...”

“No, I didn't.” he sighed, he was very upset “I've been fired. Just like the entirety of the Royal Guard. We weren't up to the King's standards, I suppose.” that would've explained a lot of things...it seemed as though Lord Asgore had lost what little brain he had left if he kept firing all his best warriors.  
“Why are you here then?” I inquired, not knowing why he had shown up all of a sudden.

“Undyne invited me for our weekly chess match.” he answered calmly “She always beats me...but I never gave up! Nyeh heh heh! Oh, and I'm also interested in joining the Prince's Royal Guard if he's willing to hire me!”

“No!” I heard Asriel yell.

“Well, I can always try another day! Nyeh heh heh!” he shrugged the prince's refusal off quite easily.

“Hey...” I heard Alphys whisper behind me “...I'm sorry for all the trouble I've caused you.”

“It's fine, really.” I answered, happy that she had somewhat regained confidence in herself “I'm glad to have been able to help.”

“Yeah, about that...” she offered me the same two things she had shown me down in the laboratory: the syringe and the phone with the explosive control program installed “What do we do with these?”

I considered keeping the syringe to use it against Asgore...but I knew that, even if I did take it, I would've never used it. It would've felt like I cheated, like I didn't deserve it.

I declined the proposal and answered “Destroy the phone: those things need to be helped, not blown up to smithereens. As for the Determination...I feel like it's going to be more useful to you than it's going to be for me.” I handed her her gifts back and cheered her on, hoping that the compound would've helped her develop a cure, or at least something that would've helped the amalgamates.

I heard Asriel and Temmie approach me “What are we going to do now?” Temmie asked.

“Now?” I said “Now we continue our voyage: we've got a Palace to get to.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You don't know how much the choices you've made up until now affected this chapter in particular: there were at least ten possible ways the encounter with Alphys and the decision we made at the end could've varied depending on your choices, with this being the "best" one. I don't want to spoil what the other variations would've been like right now, but maybe I'll do it much later, after the fic is over.  
> Anyway, I'll be seeing you guys in a few days! Bye! =3


	33. Darkness: Karma

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We arrived at Asriel's home...sort of. Then we were separated, but maybe it was better that way.  
> I learned a lot about my past...and my future. Oh, and about Karma.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: this chapter contains high levels of RELIGION!  
> If anyone here is especially triggered by different interpretations of life/fantasy or simply hates that a sixteen-years old is trying to lecture them on how imagination actually works, I would recommend you to get the fuck out! Because this chapter is pretty freaking important, so you'll have to muster up your guts if you want to stay.  
> Also, it is important to mention that anyone that has read my previous fic will understand the background much better. You'll see why.  
> Once again, enjoy! =3

We spent quite some time chatting with Undyne, Alphys and the others: Mettaton, Napstablook and surprisingly even Red soon joined us and we decided to have dinner together on the spot since it was almost midnight and we hadn't eaten anything in hours. That wouldn't have been possible if it weren't for Temmie and her phone, which apparently held an entire kitchen in it's storage app, and Felicity's help, which thankfully offered to cook for everyone upon noticing that Undyne and Papyrus didn't have the slightest idea on how cooking worked. Thank God we noticed before it was too late...

Once everything was said and done, me, Asriel and Temmie decided it was about time we finished what we started and arrived at our destination; Mettaton, who apparently stopped being a huge douchebag in mere minutes, suggested we rode the elevator situated beyond the gate we were about to enter before that weird earthquake ensued, as it would've taken us straight to the King's manor, near the actual Royal Palace.

Death and Felicity told us that they had some things to do and that they would've caught up with us some time later, so we waved them goodbye and moved on without them. Inside the elevator, me and Asriel began talking “It's weird, don't you think?”

“What do you mean?” he asked me, curious.

“It's weird how everyone we fought was there in the end, waiting for us.” I told him “We never became friends with them, but...it's almost as if we did, somehow.”

“I am not sure whether we are really “friends” with them or not.” he replied as he looked upwards “They are our allies, that's for sure. They lost faith in their leader and their leader has lost faith in them: upon facing a sure death, they turned to us to keep their lives intact. I do not understand why you are so surprised.” perhaps he was right, but...the laughs we had before while dining...the genuine happiness on their scarred faces...it felt as if our presence, our mercy, influenced them somehow. I was glad I managed to arrive where I did without killing a single person: I felt I did what I had to as a human being...as Frisk. Funny, I still had no clue as to what my surname was.

Either way, once the elevator opened it's doors, we were right in front of a small house: gray walls, gray roof, no glass windows and a door-less entrance...it reminded me of another house I had previously seen, but at first I couldn't exactly remember whose.

“Home.” Asriel whispered “I'm finally...home.” that's when I remembered: that house was an almost exact copy of the one in the Ruins...that meant Asriel and Chara eventually moved to this one some time after the latter fell. That reminded me of the first visions I ever had: of Chara falling down, of them being helped by Asriel, of the two's unlikely friendship...I felt like I needed to enter it myself.

“There has to be a way to get to the Royal Palace without getting inside: if we do, we could get in trouble before...Frisk?” I heard him beckon me as I moved towards the entrance “Frisk, where are you going?” he seemed a bit nervous “Frisk, do not enter the house!” I heard him run towards me, but I had already entered the manor: the same exact hall, the same exact hallway, the same exact stairs...the only thing that differentiated this building from the one Asriel inhabited was the color of it's walls and it's ceiling, a surreal gray that almost sickened me with it's blandness.

That sensation that drove me inside had disappeared and I was ready to turn around and return outside...I should've known it wouldn't have been that easy: the entryway from which I entered had disappeared, just like the windows next to it. Countless bricks now stood between me and my friends, punishing me for my ingenuity.

“Frisk!” I heard the prince yell from the other side “Damn you! I can't break inside!” I could indeed feel flames being shot at the wall, to no avail: we weren't going to break that barrier anytime soon, I feared.

“Listen, okay?” he asked for my attention “There's an exit on the other side of the house: you should already know where it is. I want you to catch up to me on the other side-” I couldn't hear him anymore.

“Asriel?” I called for help. But nobody came. I was on my own, for the first time in a long while.

“Dammit...” I hated myself for the situation I had ended in “Why am I so fucking stupid?”

“Good question indeed.” I heard an all-too familiar voice comment. I turned around only to see the black and white cat Karma sitting on the banister of the descending staircase “I think it's time we answer that. Together.”

“What do you want from me?” I asked, irritated “This better not be your doing!”

“It is my doing.” he answered me as he smirked “I didn't want anyone to disturb the conversation we're about to have. Nothing that we shall discuss in this house must be told to others. Understood?” he asked me, too calm for my liking.

“Who the hell do you think you are, exactly? Do you really think you can just barge in and force me to abide by your conditions?” I replied, angry at his mysteriousness.

“Let me ask you a question.” he changed the subject...or so I thought “Do you believe in God? Do you believe that there's someone out there that is responsible for your existence? Do you believe in Heaven and Hell?” he barraged me with all those seemingly meaningless questions “Do you believe that everything around you is real? That _you_ are real?” he patiently waited for me to answer him.

“I don't know if I believe in God or not.” I answered “I never needed to answer myself this question. But, if there really is an entity that governs my life...well, they must really hate me: it would mean that someone was responsible for my fall, for the Hell I've been through...so forgive me if I don't want to believe that someone so evil really exists.” I looked at him in the eyes: they were just as lifeless as Death's in that moment “But that's not the truth, is it? Otherwise you wouldn't be asking me that.”

He took a while to finally say “Perhaps...God specifically wanted you to go through the Hell you've been through. Perhaps everything that happened to you was a test, that you passed almost flawlessly. Perhaps...it is time you're finally awarded something for your efforts. An answer, a definitive answer.” he emitted a bright light which blinded me for a second: when the light finally disappeared, the cat had become just as tall as me and had become much more...human-like. Like Death, he wore a long coat, but his was white with black decorations all over it. Overall, he looked more or less the same as before though “My name, as you most likely already know, is not Karma. I'm not a mere observer, and I'm not a normal person like you. Most people know me as...roll the drums please...” I heard some drums roll but, as I should've expected, I saw no drums around me “Excalipur. You may call me Hex if you'd like. I am a writer.” he half-bowed to me, but I didn't understand why he would do that.

“A writer?” I inquired, confused “Seriously? I never saw you write any book.”

“Why, I'll have you know I've been writing a very important book all this time!” he replied mockingly “It's a very important novel for, you see, it's the novel of your life. Of everyone's life.” I didn't get it, so he explained himself better “I've been writing your life, sweetie. Your words, your actions, even your thoughts...I am the reason they even exist at all. I created this world and all the people in it: I am God. A pleasure to meet you, once again.”

“Wait, what?” was that idiot really the creator of everything? I wouldn't have believed it even if they payed me to do so “But you're a fucking cat! Aren't deities supposed to be...you know...more angelic?”

“This is my world and I can do whatever I want!” he replied angrily like a three-years old would “Besides, lots of ancient deities were based on animals!”

“Oh, I get it.” I smirked “You're a fucking furry, aren't you?”

“Noooooo...” he looked elsewhere, embarrassed.  
“Yeeeeess...” I got closer to him.

“Noooooooooo...”

“Yeeeeeeeeess!”

He suddenly turned towards me, a triumphant grin on his face “If there's a furry between us, it's certainly you: you are the one who kissed a goat!” he chuckled as he added “And I bet you two are going to do...something else...pretty soon.” I was the one who backed off embarrassed this time, the thought of...doing it with Asriel already stuck in my mind “No! Back off you fuck! I won't ever-”

“Look, as much as I love making small talk, we should stop right now.” he mustered up all the seriousness he had left “It's already been two Word pages and I've yet to explain the backstory! So please, go on, grab a seat and at least _try_ to follow me.” even though I didn't understand a couple words, I understood the overall meaning: we both sat on the banister and looked each other in the eyes.

“You've never been in control of your own destiny.” he whispered lowly as images began flashing inside my mind: images of a kid lost in a scary, dangerous world “Ever since you fell into the Underground, you ceased control of your body to what I call “numbers”: invisible beings belonging to a different plain of existence, the same one that I inhabit, with...incomprehensible ideas and motivations. Their job was to lead you from point A to point B, from Hell to Heaven, but the way they did it was entirely up to them. Some of them chose for you the way of salvation...some of them chose the way of senseless slaughter.”

I remembered now: the monsters disintegrating into dust, the tingling I felt as I became stronger, the shine of the blade I always held in my hand...I had become a murderer, a serial killer, a demon “Even though it was these people who forced you to act against your will, someone else was awoken by the pain and dread that followed you everywhere...someone who sought your merciless reaping as a means to break free of their imprisonment.”

“Chara.” I answered, recalling vividly the dream...or better, the memory I regained in Waterfall.

“Yes, Chara. The fallen human followed your progress with great interest, gradually gaining more and more control over your body. Terminating the last living beings in the Underground gave them the last bit of power they needed to steal control of your body from the idiotic numbers that made you commit genocide: they stole your body...and they almost stole your Soul as well.” he inspired...then expired. I suppose he was struggling to maintain his composure “But it couldn't end there. I would've never let that happen. Now, as to what happened next...it's a bit complicated. Basically I...copied that precise instant in time and pasted it into a separate universe, similar to the one you originally came from: since there was no way I could've fixed a mistake so big, I did the second best possible thing.”

“I still don't understand...” I admitted as I noticed a slight headache, probably caused by the massive amount of information I was assimilating.

“It's fine, really. What matters is...that something happened inside the universe that I transported you in: a Frisk just like you but not subjected to the despotic rule of the numbers made the ultimate sacrifice and, in doing so, reset her own universe...you included. Basically, everything that you did up until then...disappeared, as the events that led to your universe happening well...never ensued. Chara, who knew would've disappeared following that massive reset, left to try and fix what they believed to be a mistake and left you alone, in an ocean of nothingness.”

“Can you please say that again...with simpler words?” I asked “You're not making it easy for me to remember.”

“Basically an event that happened in the past never happened.” he sighed as he explained once again “Which made your whole world disappear, but not you. Do you understand now?”

“Kinda...” there were still a few things I didn't understand, but perhaps it was better that way “What happened next?”

“What happened next...is a bit simpler to understand: I helped you once more, creating a new world for you and for everyone that you killed. A world that would've served as a means of purification for you and for everyone else: a world where you could've rid yourself of your sins...or cemented them further. A world where everyone, numbers included, would've had a chance at redemption.” but then...why make it so brutal, hellish and unforgiving? If his plan was to make everyone happy, then why create a world so...terrifying?

I asked him to answer those questions and he replied “I never wanted you to be happy, nor did I wanted them to have fun: I wanted to see what you would've done in this world where mercy looked like a dream...and I wanted to give everyone you killed the possibility to get revenge on you.”

“Wait, do you mean that everyone that I met up until now...”

“Yes, they are the same monsters you killed on your previous journey.” he smirked at me “Some of them don't remember anything and most likely never will...others remember snippets of their previous lives, but don't quite remember the moment of their death...others remember, or are about to remember, everything that you did.” he chuckled as he added “That's not your worst concern at the moment though: there are far worse truths I have yet to tell you about.”  
“Like what?” I inquired, almost scared of continuing.

“Like the fact that you've never been in control even in this world.” he replied, slightly less calm “As I said, this world was supposed to be a chance at redemption for numbers alike: that is why I gave them the power to decide your own fate. Most of the decisions you've made up until our last encounter in Hotland were, indeed, their doing.”

“Wait, if you knew someone else was choosing in my place, what was the point of the judgments?” I asked, slightly upset.

“English is an amazing language, don't you know?” he smirked once again “But it has some flaws: for example, the pronoun “you”. It can be used both as a second person singular and as a second person plural.” now I knew what he meant: during all those judgments, he wasn't referring to me...but to them. “Now, don't be mistaken: the judgments were meant to judge you as a person as well. Even though these people were responsible for some important decisions you've made, you are to be held responsible for others, even though you were still influenced by their past deeds. Overall, I think judgments were instrumental in assuring that everything went according to plan: they functioned as a deterrent against bad behavior...even though that wasn't enough to stop a few of them.”

“What do you mean?” as soon as I inquired, some papers appeared in my hand: they contained data and graphics regarding...my decisions, apparently “Are these...”

“These are all the choices they've made, accompanied by cheesy comments of mine.” he sighed as he pointed out “It's a shame not everyone participated in this little experiment of mine...but that's why I call them numbers, after all.”

“How so?” I asked as I looked at the data.

“Most of the people who viewed your story didn't feel like interacting with you or me at all: they decided to become simple observers, to distance themselves from a reality that was too close to them for their liking. They are nothing more than numbers, for they do not have a voice nor a face. And the worse part is that there are even worse people than them.”

“I know what you're talking about.” I said as I quickly looked at the data once more “Some of these people wanted me to...kill everyone?”

“At the start of your journey, I told everyone that your survival depended on their choices: if they truly believed that killing people was the only way to stay alive in this rotten world, then I respect their decision. Unfortunately, I don't think that's what they were thinking at all.” I turned at Karma...Hex: he looked angry, even more angry than that one time Mettaton insulted him “Those filthy fucks...they believe that just because they can't interact with you directly, because they can't feel you...then they're free to do what they please. They believe that they can play with you like a toy and get away with it. They haven't learned anything from their past mistakes...and probably never will. They don't possess imagination or an open mind...and they probably never will. They disgust me.”

“Why are you telling me all this though?” I asked, curious “You could've got away simply by telling me what I needed to know...telling me you were God or whatever wasn't necessary in the slightest: why, exactly, did you tell me all this?”

“I asked you a question a minute or so ago: if you believed everything around you was real. Can you answer my question first?” the cat mysteriously inquired.

“Of course! What kind of question is that?”

“It's not that simple.” he sighed “Your world depends heavily on my imagination to sustain itself: to put it simply, your existence depends on my own. If something were to happen to me in what I consider the “real world”, you would immediately cease to exist. That is also one of the main reasons why I chose to share your tale with others: this way, even if I forget about your world, others will not and you will live on forever.”

“Well, that's pretty good.” I said, unconvinced.

“There's also another problem in your world.” Hex continued “Even though I should be omnipotent in this world, I'm not really: I lack certain senses that prevent me from assuring myself of your...well...of your actual reality. I can see you, I can hear you, but I can't _feel_ you. It's as if I were talking with a wall that cannot really answer me. The fact that you need me to even think the simplest things doesn't really help me believe in your actual reality either.”

“But...I'm real! Maybe you can't feel it, but I am alive! I've never been more alive than I am now!” I tried to convince him, upset that he couldn't trust in what was right in front of him.  
“I appreciate the effort.” he told me, calm “But I chose to believe in you nonetheless: they may call me a dreamer, an idiot, a madman...most likely an heretic...but I want to believe anyway. I want to believe that, someday, we will be able to talk like equals. That is why I won't ruin your life. You are what those numbers won't ever understand, won't ever believe in.”

“...Thanks.” I managed to thank him.

“I wanted to tell you all this because I trust you, because I know you now have all the reasons to act like you should be: like the hero you were always supposed to be. I'm sorry if I've confused you or if I somehow disoriented you...but I would be lying if I said it wasn't my intention.”

“No problem.” I answered, knowing that I could trust the man right beside me “And don't worry: what you've told me doesn't change who I am in the slightest. I am me, and even though you say otherwise I've always made and will always make my decisions alone, on my own.” I got down from the banister and looked at my own hands, dirty of the sweat, pain and blood I spilled in order to get where I was “I know what I have to do. Thanks.”

“Don't worry.” he got down as well and hugged me, something that honestly surprised me “Try not to kill anyone right at the end, okay? I promise you, no-one has to die. Especially you.” he was about to leave but before he did he added “Oh, and I've forgot to mention you something important...something related to Asriel. I guess he will be the one to narrate you the last part of the story!” he disappeared in a flash of light, but I didn't blink this time.

Knowing what I had done, but most importantly what I was about to do...filled me with determination.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Secret's out, huh? About time I say!  
> Seriously, was there anyone out there who didn't see this plot twist coming?
> 
> As always, I would like if someone could help me correct me all the small mistakes I've made: it's currently past midnight and I haven't re-read everything yet! =3


	34. Asriel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Together, we can leave behind the past and get closer to the future.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, some people misunderstood the meaning of the last chapter. I didn't want to punch every reader of mine in the face, I only wanted you to reflect on a few things.  
> I wrote this fic solely for you guys, to dish out free entertainment for everyone. "Free" however, isn't correct: I never asked any money, but I did ask you to leave feedback on this work. You may think feedback is useless, but it isn't: it's the only way I have to communicate with you, which is what I've been trying to do this whole time. I wanted us to be more than just "writer and readers", I wanted us to be...friends, or something like that. At least, I wanted you to show me some respect for the work I've been doing.  
> I know that many of you who never commented probably never even read these notes, which is why I included a personal rant in the last chapter, to make sure you knew what I thought of you. You probably still not care, considering how little people actually gave a shit in the comment section.
> 
> I remember this one viewer that simply commented "Cool.". One word. I was fine with that. You may think that matters nothing, but it means a lot to me. It means they cared about me, because they took some time to actually write a response. I am thankful to them and to everyone else who commented even once on this work: you are the reason I keep on writing.
> 
> I still think everyone who voted to kill certain characters just because they felt like it is a sick fuck: seriously, go fuck yourselves. I won't even try to apologize or anything, because there's no reason to do so.
> 
> Without anything else to say, let's jump right in! =3

The sight of the entirety of New Home was...breathtaking. The entirety of the city extended before my eyes, I could see even the tiniest of buildings from where I was. I was so high I could see the entire city...but so low I could see monsters walking in the alleys, entering and exiting the buildings...I could see some of them hanging out and having fun together. A part of me wanted to join them and live carelessly like I wanted to believe they did...but another one didn't want me to.

I had had plenty of time to think about what Karma...or rather Hex told me: time to re-elaborate...time to translate a few things...time to understand what I had done and what I had become. I had time to wonder whether the responsibility of my previous actions fell entirely on those people he mentioned, time to reflect on whether the choices I had made in the last couple of days would've been the same if I had been fully in control...lots of time, really. Asriel was nowhere to be seen, after all...I was a bit worried about him, to be honest.

The air felt fresher, that was for sure. I had never felt that good before, I had never felt so free. At first I thought something had changed...but I soon realized nothing had really changed. Apart from me, of course. My predisposition towards the Underground and it's denizens had changed drastically in...what, five minutes? Maybe it had something to do with the air, maybe it didn't...frankly, I didn't care. I felt...free...even though I felt like a gigantic burden had been placed on my shoulders.

I had a debt to repay to everyone. Especially Asriel. I had to make up for what I had done, of that I was sure: the problem was...how? An easy answer, mind you: by stopping Asgore's reign of terror and make sure someone else sat on the throne.  
Memories returned: memories of a kind King, a King completely devoted to his people and their future...a King that greeted me scared, knowing that there was no way he could've defeated the demon I had become. I would've had to make up for what I had done to him too...but that could've waited.

“Frisk!” I heard a familiar voice beckon me from behind: Asriel had finally found a way to get around the house and catch up to me on that road that viewed the entire city “Excuse me for my delay, but there were...some complications.” I noticed Temmie wasn't with him, but maybe it was for the best.

“It's fine.” I signed him to sit next to me near the edge of the cliff “Come, the view is beautiful.”

He sat a few inches away from me and asked me, a bit confused “Who are you? Frisk would have added at least two swear words to that phrase...”

“Very funny.” I replied without laughing “Could you please sit a bit closer to me?” he moved a bit closer to me and put his hand over my shoulders, understanding that I needed to be comforted “Is something wrong?”

“I'm not sure.” I answered “I had a...conversation. With Karma.”  
“And?” he wanted me to continue.

“What if I died right here, right now?” I said calmly “Nobody would care, would they? As it is right now, my life has no meaning...it has no purpose.” you might find what I said a bit sad, but saying it only made me feel stronger and more determined than ever.

“Please do not say that!” Asriel replied, taken aback by my statement “I do not want you to die!”

“All this time, I kept going on because I wanted to flee, to escape, to leave everyone down here behind and...live, I guess...” even though I perfectly heard what the Prince said, I acted as if I didn't “But now I know that's not what I have to do. I don't want to leave, I want to stay...I want to make up for my errors...”

“What errors?” Asriel eyed me suspicious.

I was unsure whether I should've told him about my previous deeds or not “Well, I...”

“You killed me, didn't you?” he spelled each word slowly and carefully, wanting me to understand him clearly and without misunderstandings.

“W-What?” Karma did mention that someone would've remembered what I did, but...

“When we passed out in Waterfall...” he explained “I had a weird dream. I dreamed that you...killed me mercilessly. At first, I thought I was becoming crazy...but I was mistaken, was I not? As we progressed, you kept giving me...mixed feelings. Looking at you directly made me feel so weird I could not even think...but it was not until we arrived in that underground laboratory that I finally remembered everything...”

“...But you still kissed me...” I pointed out, once again deeply sorry for what I had done to what I realized was my best friend.

“I tried to convince myself it was not real nevertheless.” he answered “Not only because of what _you_ had done...but because of what _I_ had done as well.” he seemed even more sorry than me “I helped you...killed everyone I held dear. Mom, dad...a lot of other people as well...even though you were the one who ended their lives, I helped you do it. I am no better than my father...”

“Asriel, listen.” I didn't want him to feel bad “Everything that we did...it wasn't our fault. Things could've gone very differently, that's true...but if they didn't, that's not our fault. We are all victims down here...especially you.”

He turned towards me, expecting some kind of explanation, but I didn't want to tell him what Karma had told me: I feared he wouldn't have accepted it as easily as I did...and besides, the cat specifically asked me never to tell anyone. I asked him to understand and he decided to accept what I told him without complaining.

“May I show you something?” he asked me as he offered me to grab his hand “Even though I am willing to forget about... _that_ past, there are a few things I cannot forget...and I want you to witness them with your own eyes.” he never told me he knew about the visions I had. I inquired him about them and he answered with Chara's voice “I suspected you could see into my memories ever since you began randomly passing out after touching us: every time that happened, some memories of mine resurfaced without me wanting them to. I don't know how that happens exactly...but I'm glad you can. If you didn't, you would've never have known Asriel for the wonderful person he is...sort of.” he might have not been the best friend ever...but that wasn't his fault. Even though their friendship hadn't started very well, I was sure Asriel did everything he could to make Chara feel at home...to make them feel loved.

I grabbed the goat's hand and suddenly felt sleepy: thankfully, he grabbed me before I could fall down the cliff and held me close to him, making me feel wanted and protected.

  
_“Well, well, well...what do we have here?” the imposing King asked me, unafraid of me...of course he was unafraid, I was completely helpless against him._

_I had been found out. I knew it would've happened, eventually...but I wanted to believe it could've been avoided, that I could've stayed hidden forever if I never did anything reckless or stupid...but Asriel never mentioned a maid coming to clean the house every day, starting from his room. A lot of things happened, then I was tossed in that same arena where the executions were carried out...together with my only friend, suspected of hiding me from Asgore's gaze._

“ _A human in my kingdom...and in my own home as well. How long have you been living under my same roof without me realizing?” he didn't look like Asriel at home: if Asriel would've grinned while saying those words, maybe chuckled a little bit, his father looked perfectly calm, inexpressive even. That made him look even more evil._

“ _...And you, my son? Why was this...kid found in your bedroom?” he turned towards Asriel, who was probably the most endangered between us. He turned towards me, unsure as to what to do._

“ _Honestly, I don't know why he's being held here with me.” I answered, knowing that would've bought some time for my friend to understand my plan “I'm a human, but he evidently isn't.”_

_The King didn't expect me to say anything, and didn't attempt to silence me “So you can speak. Interesting. So...you never met my son?” he was trying to make me confess, but I needed to be strong in that moment. My life was over, of that I was sure, but maybe Asriel's wasn't._

“ _I didn't even know he was your son before you told me he was.” I replied, trying to be realistic “Now, if you could execute me and end this right here, I would be really-”_

“ _Silence.” he didn't need to raise his voice to sound intimidating “I will decide your fate, not you.” he turned towards his child and stood silent for a while, before saying “I have to believe this human matters nothing to you?”_

_Asriel turned towards me and looked at me in my eyes: there was only one way he could get out of there alive and he needed to understand it, he needed to keep his sentiments at bay._

“ _No.” now I know how much it costed him to say one single word “I never met this idiotic kid and if I did he wouldn't be here insulting us all with his presence.” even though I wanted him to use those words, they still hurt nonetheless._

“ _Interesting.” finally, the King smiled evilly: I won't ever forget that grin, I won't ever forget what he suggested “Then you will not have any trouble killing him yourself, will you?” he was asking Asriel to end me...I should've seen that coming. It was the only way to know if his son was lying, after all...and I thought Asriel would've never agreed to it._

“ _With pleasure.” I heard my friend say, using the same evil tone he had when we first met “Thanks dad. I always wanted to know...what it feels like to kill a human.” I wanted to believe he was saying it only to keep on living...and not because he had suddenly decided to betray our friendship._

“ _Well then.” King Asgore said as he personally unchained his son from the cross he had chained him to “Show me your loyalty. Show me your power. You have my permission to harvest his Soul...” harvest my Soul...was he really asking Asriel to do that? My death wouldn't have been real: Asriel had explained me what would've happened if my Soul were ever to be absorbed by a monster. I would've lived inside of him forever until he died...but apart from that, I didn't exactly know what would've ensued._

_Whatever happened, I prayed Asriel would've been fine._

_As Asriel stood right in front of me, a knife gently gifted by his father in his paws, I thought about all the things we had done, about the splendid times we had had, about everything we could've done if...if only I hadn't been so stupid. I wished I could rewind time and act as if nothing had happened, but unfortunately I didn't possess such power._

“ _It's not your fault.” I whispered to my friend as he prepared to finish me._

“ _It is.” he answered as the blade penetrated my chest, stabbing my heart. At least my death was quick and almost painless...even though I had become even addicted to pain, those last moments full of pain weren't pleasing at all. As my gaze turned downwards and life exited my helpless body, I realized the blood that was falling on the ground turned into beautiful red flowers._

_-It's beautiful...- I told myself as the entire execution chamber turned red..._

 

I woke up in Asriel's embrace. I was sure it hadn't been long since I first passed out.

“What happened afterwards?” I asked, thankful that the vision ended where it did.

“I absorbed Chara's Soul and became extremely powerful.” Asriel answered, not surprised by my sudden awakening “Father wanted me to pass through the barrier and gather six more human Souls, as that would have allowed monsterkind to be set free...I would have been my father's secret weapon against all those who would have opposed us...but I was done with him. I was done with everyone. Even though I could still hear Chara inside of me, it hurt as if I had lost them forever. Saving my kind would not have brought them back...so I fled, I went far, far away...so that nobody could ever bother us.” he stopped talking for a while before continuing “It still hurts. Even though now we are closer than ever, it still hurts as if I had lost them forever...”

“You killed the only person that you really cared about.” I tried to guess what he would've said next “And that made you feel so bad you lost your self-esteem and your confidence.”

“Not only that.” he added “I started to believe friendship can only bring sadness, that if I ever befriended someone else it would have only hurt more. That is why I wanted to kill you when I first met you: I did not want to suffer any more than I had to. And yet...we are here. We are together. And I do not want to see you go.” he leaned on me and kissed me softly: it felt even better than the one we shared in the laboratory, because we were being honest with each other.  
“I love you.” we both confessed at the same time, in a brief instant in which our lips weren't intertwined. It lasted an eternity, but eventually we decided to end it: nothing lasts forever. Especially us.  
“If you want, we can return to the Ruins and live together.” Asriel proposed, showing me a weird-looking key he had been holding in his pants' pocket the whole time “I found the spare key I needed, after all. But I guess that's not what you want to do, is it?”

“I can't leave them behind.” I explained “My demons will keep on haunting me until I make up for my mistakes: I have to save them, Asriel...I have to save them from this madness.” and to do so, I thought, I needed the prince's help “Asriel, I won't ask you to help me because you owe me one or something like that: I ask you to help me because you are their prince, you are their hope, you are the only one who can guide them after-”

“After what, after you defeat my father?” he asked, slightly angered “If you want to challenge my father, then you have a death-wish: trust me, even if he were not to use that “Determination” thing or whatever, you would still not win. You have not killed a single monster, which means your LV did not increase: you are too weak to pose a threat to him...and I am not sure I could beat him myself, even though I have a human Soul inside of me. You would be on your own, which means-”

“Which means I have to do it!” I yelled in return, determined to end it once and for all “I won't let that asshole defeat me! I didn't go through the entire Underground to be defeated at the end! I will finish this...for me, for you, for everyone. If I die, at least I will do it fighting for the right cause.” not only that, but I was also the protagonist: this meant that there was no way I could die...unless I was in a horror movie, of course “You cannot stop me.” I warned Asriel.

“I cannot.” he sighed “Do you really think...I could be a good King? That I could redeem myself?”

“I am not asking you to redeem yourself.” I replied “I am asking you to help me redeem myself. Sorry if I sound selfish.”

“You do not sound selfish at all.” we got up and turned towards the Royal Palace, which was closer than ever. We began walking towards the Palace, but Asriel soon stopped and turned towards me “One more thing.” Chara said “I still don't understand everything about...what happened before or whatever...but at least, know that I am with you no matter what you do. I care deeply for the both of you, so please...don't die on me. That is all I ask you to.”

“We won't die.” I promised “Nobody will. Not even Asgore.” I was not sure whether I could convince him to stop without killing him...but I had to do it. I would've never killed anyone else in my entire life, that is what I made myself promise.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No Temmie in this chapter, huh? I wonder where she went. =3
> 
> Oh, and please don't spam "Cool." in the comments.  
> Or maybe do it, if you feel like it. Dank memes for the win, amirite? =3


	35. Darkness: Sans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A battle I should've fought a long time ago finally ensued.  
> I didn't know how to feel about that one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can tell when I'm uninspired and not feeling like writing when I take five days to upload Not all Villains are Evil and TWO DAYS to write ONE chapter. Like, wtf.  
> I wanted to make the battle a bit longer, but as I said I didn't feel like it...whether it's good or not depends on you, I fear.  
> Let me know what you think in the comments, as usual I didn't re-read so there may be errors.

****We kept walking down the gray path towards our final destination: the Royal Palace. It had only been a day, surprisingly: even though the night felt tremendously close and our eyes were begging us to stay shut, a fire in our hearts kept us moving...besides, if we feel asleep in that moment we were bound to wake up in a shitty cold cell the following day.

We hadn't chatted ever since we finished that marvelously long conversation a few minutes before, when we sat on the edge of the cliff and revealed to each other out darkest secrets while looking at each other in the eyes...once everything ended, I thought, Asriel and I would've had more conversations like that.

“Hoi!” a little voice called us. Temmie waved at us as she stood by the door of a small and yet terrifyingly high building which stood right in the middle of our path “You took quite some time to get out of that house, didn't you?”

“Hey!” I greeted her in return as we got closer to her “What are you doing outside this...building?” now that I looked at it a bit closer, a familiar sensation struck me, but I tried to ignore it.

“Well, I've been waiting you, of course!” she showed me her cellphone, which displayed an enormous amount of...money? “While you two were away, I've been playing around with the stock business and I gained a preposterous amount of money! I think I'm even richer than the King himself now!” she was incredibly happy...while I was incredibly salty. Seriously, it had been only ten minutes! That number was so big I wasn't sure it could even exist!

“What is this “stock business” you speak of? I never heard of anything like that.” Asriel asked, confused. I remembered hearing the word somewhere else before, but I didn't recall exactly what stocks were either.

Temmie did her best to explain what she had been doing, but that made Asriel even more confused “Look, I might not know everything that happened in the Underground in the past fifty years...but I am rather sure there's nothing like that in the Underground.”

“Of course there isn't! I was talking about the human stock business!” wait, was there really an internet connection...in the Underground? It seemed rather contradictory, but knowing Temmie and how advanced all her gadgets were I didn't ask further “Even if we don't ever get out of here, I will still be the sole owner of some of the richest and most powerful companies in the world!” her love for money was so intense her pupils turned the shape of dollars, somehow. I wasn't going to question it.

“Well then, shall we go?” Asriel asked, still uncertain “I believe we wasted a bit too much time chatting.”

“You're right.” I answered “From now on, it's on.”

We entered the building we were standing in front of: the insides reminded me of a cathedral's, except there was literally no furniture inside that huge hall whatsoever. Lots of pillars supported a colorless ceiling, but if it weren't for those we would've been in a big plain hall. The only thing that made this place slightly interesting were those huge windows on the left wall: some light entered in the room from those windows, but I was unsure of where exactly that light was coming from.

“This place seems familiar.” I warned Asriel “All too familiar.”

“What do you mean?” Temmie asked me, unsettled “You haven't been here before, have you?”

“I have.” I answered, not caring for the consequences “Asriel, whatever happens...don't intervene. Please.” he looked at me worried, but he eventually sighed as he agreed to my plan. As he tried to make our friend understand without telling her about...all that stuff, I proceeded towards the center of the room.

Once again, the air felt different. I didn't feel as well as I felt before: I was more calm than anything else, as if that place were draining me of all my emotions. I knew what would've happened next, I lived that moment in time too many times to forget about it. Hell was awaiting me, but I wasn't going to burn in it this time. Not this time.

My eyes blinked for an instant and there he stood, in his edgy black and red attire: Sans the skeleton, the monster who had been following me all this time...probably driven by hate, anger or revenge I bet. His eyesockets were empty, devoid of all light. He was pissed, of that I was sure.

“You've been busy, huh?” he asked me, with a calm that I thought he would've never had. I noticed his speech was slightly different too: no dialect influences at all...just pure plain English. Sort of.

“I'm still busy.” I answered, with the same calm tone he used “But I've not been doing what you expected me to. Surprised?”

A small pause ensued.

“Do you really think I'll fall for it?” he replied, slightly less calm “When will you stop this tomfoolery and show everyone what you really are?” a red and black light appeared in his left eyesocket alone, piercing through my body from the very moment it appeared. I wasn't going to give in to fear, I wasn't going to give in to regret...

“I could tell you how much I'm sorry for the destruction I've caused.” I answered, as calm as I could “I could tell you it wasn't my fault, I could tell you how much I've struggled to become a better person, I could tell you of all the friends I've made that showed me hate and how I showed them mercy in return, I could tell you of my desire to change this world for good...I could tell you how I learned to love, for real, for the first time in my life...” my expression became darker, but not necessarily more evil “But you wouldn't listen, would you? After all, you spent...who knows how much time waiting for me, waiting for the moment you would've had your revenge and eliminated me for good...yeah, you wouldn't listen to a single word I'd say.” I drew my weapons and stared at him, trying to sound as intimidating as possible “So bring it, motherfucker! I will show you just how powerful a redemption-seeking human can be!”

“You seek redemption?” he answered as he cracked his bony hands “You never stop amusing me, human...too bad I lost my sense of humor, it would've really helped you in this situation.” I didn't understand if he was being serious or not, but it wouldn't have mattered either way.

The skeleton pointed his right arm toward me, his skeletal hand semi-immobile: I knew what attack he was going to use, but I didn't know if to be scared for it or not. Papyrus tried to use the same attack earlier that day too and it didn't work, possibly due to the state my Soul was in. Maybe it's color was derived from the path I had once taken...but I didn't have time to think about that.

My Soul exited my body, still covered in that gooey black substance. It didn't feel natural at all, but at least there was less of it now. A faint red light shined from inside the goo-covered heart-shaped Soul, but it was so little I wasn't even sure if it were really there or not.

As soon as the skeleton pulled his right hand downwards, a faint blue light replaced the red one as I helplessly fell to the ground, defenseless. I shouldn't have underestimated Sans, I knew his powers were much stronger than his brother's. I looked forward and noticed an incoming barrage of small bones: even though I would like to call what I did next “dodging”, it looked more like a duck flailing around clueless. I was so slow and fatigued it was a miracle I was even avoiding his attacks, for fuck's sake; I couldn't even jump, I was stuck to the floor.

“Ever since you came down here, I never felt any “resets”.” Sans explained as he kept attacking me “Even though there were times were your death seemed likely, you never used that power I was so afraid of.” the light coming from his left eye flickered as his smile somehow grew bigger “...Which means that either you never used that power of yours...or you can't use it anymore. Now...wouldn't it be a shame if you died, right now, without the power to go back in time to save you? It certainly would be...” his attacks were getting increasingly faster and avoiding them felt more miraculous than ever: he was hell-bent on killing me and I was sure I wouldn't have resisted much longer. I needed to strike back now.

I pointed my weapons towards him, even though it costed me a great deal of energy to do so, and shot some rounds at him, desperate to end the fight as quickly as I could: he somehow dodged all my attacks, sometimes simply by walking away and sometimes by teleporting a few feet away. I knew he could do it, but...it annoyed me anyway. No, I wasn't annoyed...I was scared. I remembered dying so many times to that smiley comedian...and that time, I couldn't afford dying even once.

A bone eventually pierced through my chest, making me scream in pain as Asriel yelled my name a few dozen feet back. I had been hit...and the blood was flowing everywhere. Even though I had only been hit once, I already felt a lot of my power fading away, my determination vanishing, my will to live slipping away...

“Man, I thought this would've lasted longer.” I heard the skeleton say, but my vision was too blurred to let me actually look at him “Get dunked on, you little fuck.” multiple bones emerged from the ground below me, impaling my whole body as more and more blood exited it, my Soul shattering before my eyes...

“I don't think so.” the Soul reformed before my eyes, the bones retreated into the ground, the blood returned inside my veins, my body reformed as my determination returned...once again, I had been saved by certain death. By the white cat who had appeared before my eyes: Felicity.  
She was now as tall as a normal person, maybe slightly less tall than me, and she was wearing a pink t-shirt and blue jeans: a much different attire from Death and Hex, I thought. That power...I now knew what that power was: the power to reset, the power to go back in time. How could she have that power...was she...

“Of course...” the skeleton winked at us, temporarily hiding that disturbing red light from us “It would've been too easy, huh? Well, too bad: I wanted to kill only the human...but, if I have to go through you to do so, I will gladly do it. But hey: it's nothing personal, alright?”

“I never understood why people need to fight.” Felicity said, her tone unusually low “I never understood why people can't just...solve their problems without recurring to violence. If everyone weren't so bent on killing each other, we could live in a world of peace and harmony...but as long as there are people like you, who keep on living in the past and never look forward to the future, that world will keep being a dream, a mirage even...but that won't be for long.” she turned towards me, a determined look on her face “We're ending this, together.”

As I nodded, once again faithful in my...our victory, I heard my heart beat stronger than ever: the red light coming from inside my Soul pulsed more and more vividly, until it suddenly exploded and the black sludge covering the heart vanished as my Soul turned red; it's color wasn't quite the same as I remembered, as it reminded me more of wine than blood, but it was a start, at least.

The skeleton launched another barrage of bones at us, but we jumped in the air and avoided it...well, jumping isn't quite correct: we were flying above the bones, defying gravity as if it never existed. I was learning a whole new meaning of freedom, and I had Felicity to thank for that...if I could still call her that, of course.

“Heh, you look nice as a bird kiddo.” the skeleton commented, sarcastic “But I prefer when you act like the lowly worm you are.” he slammed his hand downwards, using the same magic trick he used last time...except it didn't work. My Soul stayed red, oblivious to the skeleton's attempt of conditioning it's fly.

As the skeleton began panicking, not understanding how could I possibly resist his power, Felicity asked me my sub-machine guns “This way we can attack him together.”

“Weren't you supposed to be a pacifist?” I asked, not understanding why had she suddenly become so aggressive.

“This fight isn't avoidable...and I want to end it as soon as I can.” she answered, trying to act as composed as she could “Even though I hate fighting back...I fear I have no choice in this situation.”

As I passed the cat my weapons and prepared myself to fight using only my leg-guns, the skeleton summoned some of those blasters Gaster used when we fought him, which I remembered were in the comedian's previous arsenal as well, and tried to shoot us down with them: however, the cat was quicker than him and and somehow stopped, or almost stopped, time allowing us to dodge the lasers with ease and make our way towards the skeleton.

However, that power didn't last very long and the skeleton teleported away before we could corner him, which was our ultimate goal since we would've never resorted to killing him.

  
A long fight ensued, which tired all combatants. The skeleton was pretty fast, but we had time on our side (literally) and death never came knocking on our door: Felicity showed me how to dodge incoming fire at the last second and cause time to temporarily slow down, but even that wasn't enough to defeat the skeleton.

After a long while, something finally occurred: after our umpteenth sprint towards the comedian and his umpteenth teleport, he did a mistake and teleported right in front of Asriel, who had been spectating the battle all along. The prince took advantage of the opportunity and seized victory for us all: by grabbing Sans by his neck...or rather, his spinal column, and pointing his other hand at his face, he cornered the skeleton and threatened his life “I would not move if I were you.”

“Heh, like it matters.” he answered, still awfully cocky “That kid would rewind time nonetheless, just because she doesn't want anyone to die.” he turned towards Felicity, a confident smile on his skull “ This fight won't ever end, kiddo. I can't kill you, but you can't kill me...you don't want to kill me. We will be stuck here...forever. Unless you kill me and end this once and for all.”

“You never wanted to win, did you?” Felicity asked, slightly depressed “You just wanted us to end you...didn't you?” his eyesockets emptied. He didn't answer. “Why? I don't get it!” Frisk was on the verge of tears “Why must you keep on thinking about that...horrible timeline? Why can't you just be happy with what you have and be done with it all?”

“Why, you ask?” he inquired, angered “I've seen all my loved ones die before my eyes...I've spent countless restless nights having nightmares about the “human” and how they murdered me mercilessly...I spent a lifetime preparing for this day...the day all my burdens would've been lifted...one way or the other.”

“It doesn't have to be this way!” the cat replied, desperately trying to help the skeleton “I know a friend of mine can help you! He helped your-” she stopped when she realized I had another plan in mind.

I fell on my knees in front of the skeleton and tried to make him understand “You're right. There's no excuse for what I've done to you, to your brother and to everyone else. Even if others pulled the trigger, I still was the one to execute their orders. In the end, I'm just as responsible as they are for my actions.”

“Continue.” the skeleton said, unsure as to where I was going.

“However, things have changed. I'm not the idiot I once was and I would never do what I did again. Even tough your past may still haunt you, I want your future to be so bright you will forget about it. I want to change, Sans. If you don't believe I can do it, if you really believe I'm lying to you right now...” I gulped as I finished “Then kill me right here, right now. And I don't want to be saved, Felicity.” even though the cat was originally hostile to my suggestion, the skeleton decided to trust me “Fine. Do as you please. I wouldn't be able to win anyway.” he teleported free of Asriel's grasp and kept on talking “I'll bite, kid. You haven't killed anyone, so maybe there is a chance you're telling me the truth. Besides, you didn't have this many...supporters that time either, and the kitty looks nice.” he winked at Felicity, who blushed embarrassed “Either way, I'm outta here. I want to believe my work here is done.” he sighed as he concluded “I'm gonna sleep. I haven't had any sleep in ages.” he left, never to return again.

“W-What was that all about?” Temmie inquired, being oblivious to the events that had once ensued.

“Nothing of your concern.” Asriel answered, sick of giving false explanation.

With the skeleton problem resolved, Felicity approached me and reassured me “We will take care of him. I will convince Karma to help him, no matter what. I don't leave anyone behind.” she smiled at me, and I couldn't do anything else but return the smile.

“Just who are you, by the way?” I asked, not wanting to accept the conclusion I came to as real.

“Oh, you'll find out very soon.” she winked at me as she changed the topic “Anyway, me and Death won't be spectating the final battle: Karma wants us to do some chores for him so...nothing I can do, sorry.”

“You can call him Hex, I already know about him and his...you know...” I still had troubles accepting him as a “God” or whatever. Seriously, how could a deity be so demented?

“For real?” she asked, legitimately surprised “Wow, and he told you that _before_ the final boss? He definitely didn't do that with us...” I already figured out they knew about Karma's true identity, but that phrase still made me a bit curious.

“Nevertheless, I have to go. Don't die, bye!” she left in a hurry...by running towards the entrance. Apparently, only Death and Hex could do that...speaking of which, I still had no clue as to who Death was. As for Felicity, well...

“So, are we done here?” Asriel asked, impatient.

“We are.” I answered “Let's roll out.”

She reminded me a lot of myself.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another shitty plot-twist everyone saw coming. Who would've guessed? =3


	36. Darkness: Asgore

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I have come.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if it took me more than I expected, but I...well, I was lazy, that's all. We're so close to the end, and I want to finish this fic as soon as possible. That's why I'm thinking of releasing the next chapter tomorrow, if I can. I hope no-one is upset by it.  
> Of course, there may be errors. I don't really feel like correcting them right now, maybe I'll look into them tomorrow.  
> As always, thanks for reading! Enjoy!

We reached the huge iron gate before we even noticed: the entrance was adorned with skillfully-crafted iron sculptures, most of them representing monsters similar in shape to Asriel, but it was also covered in rust and dust. I thought the King would've been, like, the stereotypical bad guy who impoverished the poor and enriched the riches, but from the looks of it he didn't even care about his own castle.

“This is it.” Asriel announced, Temmie still laying on top of his head “I sense a powerful energy behind this gate...after we enter it, we will not be able to go back.” for some reason, that sentence sounded like a cliché. One that is used very frequently too...perhaps I was overthinking it a little bit.

“Are you ready?” I asked him, fully prepared to deal with whatever was up ahead.

“Of course I am.” he answered, just as determined as I was.

“Can I say I'm not?” Temmie asked, nervous “You're...we're going to fight the King himself, are you sure you're going to be able to defeat him?” I understood her doubts, and reminded her that she didn't need to fight with us.

“R-Really? Great! I mean...don't worry guys, I will support you from...the rear! Yeah...I will cover your backs and make sure nobody backstabs you!” I sighed as I thought that she was either a coward...or the only sane person in our small group.

“Either way, it's time to move on.” I said as I opened the gate with Asriel's help: thankfully, even though there was a keyhole in the middle of the entrance, the gate had already been unlocked...I was now sure of it, Asgore was expecting us. Perhaps even welcoming us.

The corridor that followed was one of the most long ones I had ever walked: my heart beat as fast as the wind, increasing in speed as we got closer and closer to...the Throne room. A huge, huge room covered by grass and red flowers...with the exception of the huge golden throne at the end of the room, of course. The entire place was illuminated by some huge shining crystals hanging from the ceiling, which lighted the room perfectly, as if the Sun itself was shining on it...it unsettled me, for some reason. I should also add that the throne at the end of the room looked perfectly cleaned: perhaps I was right with the whole “stereotypical bad guy” stuff.

In front of us stood too people, their backs turned at us: they both wore long black mantels, but one of them was much...larger than the other one. That monster also held a huge red trident, which seemed...awfully familiar. I wondered why I still felt that way, I already knew everything about what happened before.

“So you came.” a powerful, yet controlled voice echoed through the room: the monster both turned around, staring at us, to be more specific at me, in the eyes. The small and slim one was a woman who looked very similar to Asriel, but her horns were much smaller and overall she just looked more...feminine: she wore a long dress adorned with gold finishes and a lot, and I mean _a lot_ of jewels. I knew that woman, I had already seen her in my visions...and even if I hadn't seen her, I would've reminded her from the past timeline: Toriel Dreemurr, Asriel's mother...she seemed sad, or at least unsettled. She absolutely didn't look like what I thought was her husband: a huge, armored monster with huge horns and probably an even bigger...why was I even thinking that? Either way, I was more than sure that guy was King Asgore, as he seemed rather...intrigued by our presence. Both his armor, his weapon and the crown on his head were red: they had to like that color a lot in the Underground, I thought.

“I have been waiting for this.” the King spoke as I already regretted my decision “I expected my son to return one day...but I did not expect him to bring another human with him.” he eyed me interested, perhaps even too interested “At least my doubts on your...position, regarding humans at least, have been cleared.”

“Are you still mad because I did not murder innocent people for you and caused a war that would have destroyed our nation, Father?” Asriel asked, ironic as always “I thought after half a century you would have stopped thinking about that...” that observation hurt Asgore's patience, but didn't make him lose his cool “Absolutely not, my son: if anything else, your disgraceful choice made me even more...determined to free our people.” more like freeing himself, but whatever.

“Anyway...who are you, insolent human?” the King turned his gaze at me once again “You have made it this far...and I doubt it is solely due to my son's intervention. I also heard you never killed a single monster on your way here...I did not remember humans could be this strong. Certainly, the last one that fell down here was not...” that affirmation made Asriel...or perhaps Chara slightly angry, but they waited for me to do the next move.

“My name is Frisk.” I replied as...let's just say “sexily” as I could “I'm sure you heard that name before.” that name did cause a reaction in him, but it didn't look like he remembered much else apart from the name “I have heard that name before. So what?”

“First off, I congratulate you for your kingdom.” I mimicked Asriel's ironic tone as I reminded the governor of his inefficiency “I've never seen someone rule as horribly as you do: you deserve an award for that.” I hit the right spot, he looked much more angry now “What I do with my subjects is none of your concern, you filthy brat! Besides, sacrifices must be made in order to achieve freedom!”

“Freedom, you say? How exactly treating your followers and subjects like shit helped you achieve freedom, huh?” as the proverb says, beat the iron while it's hot “I may not be from around here, but even I can understand how useless you are as a monarch. I can understand why so many people attempted to kill you.” I had seen one in person in my visions, but I knew many, many assassins tried to get rid of Asgore. Asriel told me that he never knew those monsters' true intentions, if they were idealists or simple bandits...but such a high number must indicate something, don't you think?

“Ha! As if a little brat like you could know anything about politics!” the King laughed off my comment...but he knew I was right, deep below “Are you suggesting you should govern in my place? Ridiculous!”

“That is not her plan at all.” Asriel grinned as he said the fateful phrase “She is suggesting _I_ should govern in your stead.”

The King didn't know how to take Asriel's announcement, so the Prince explained further “After a lot of discussing, me and Frisk reached an agreement: the Underground can no longer survive under your leadership. That is why I shall take the lead of this country...and make the Underground great again!” that last phrase was my touch: I had spent quite a while imagining it. I even thought of trademarking it, with Temmie's help.

What followed was the most sonorous laugh I ever heard in my life: that fat-ass really couldn't believe we were going to dethrone him “If I had known you were so funny, I could have kept you as a jester, Asriel! Do you seriously think you have a chance at defeating me, your father? Ridiculous.”

I could've insulted that fat pig a bit more, but instead I moved on to more important matters: Queen Toriel was still looking at us, worried. I figured it was about time I learned whose side was she on “What about you?” I asked her, waking her up from what looked like daydreaming “Are you going to fight us, fully believing in your husband and his ideals? Or will you side with us, hoping that we will change this nation for the better?” she lowered her gaze as she wondered what to answer.

Asgore turned to his wife, angered that she hadn't answered yet “Toriel? How come you have not refused her offer yet? Are you seriously-” he stopped as soon as he noticed her coming towards us “Unbelievable...” he muttered as she stood right in front of me, looking at me as if I were her own child “Your offer is tempting, human...unfortunately, I do not know what to answer. Asgore is my husband, and I promised to love him and support him for the rest of my life, but...” she looked at him, sad “...I fear he is no longer the man he used to be. From the moment he ordered my son to kill his only friend...something snapped within him. I fear he cannot be allowed to wear that crown anymore...” completely ignoring her husbands rants and questions, she crouched and caressed my face “Unfortunately, I am not strong enough to fight him...and, even if I were, I doubt I would be able to hurt my own husband. However, I shall believe in you. For some reason, when I look at you...I cannot stop thinking of you as my own child. So please, do what you must...and show me that my faith is not misplaced.” she got up and caressed Asriel “You have grown, my child.”

“Yes, Mom.” he answered as he struggled not to cry “I have indeed grown.”

“I am sorry for everything I did...but mostly, for everything I did not do.” now she was the one about to cry “If only I had been a better Queen, if only I had more inner strength...I could have saved them. Tell them I apologize...”

“I forgive you.” Chara answered, earning the Queen's surprise “You've been kinder than I could've ever asked for. Even though we never spoke too much...you've been the best mom I've ever had.”

“Hey, Queen Toriel!” I heard Temmie call her from the corner of the room: she had been setting up...what looked like a huge video-camera “If you don't want to get involved, why don't you come here? We're setting up a recording studio over here, safe from...everything that will probably ensue in a few minutes.”

“Recording studio? We?” I asked, not understanding what the heck was happening.

“Oh, yes!” the wall behind Temmie crashed and out of it came...what looked like a big, metallic rectangle accompanied by a floating white ghost...Mettaton and Napstablook? But that body wasn't like the one he had used in Hotland at all...then again, Temmie completely trashed that one so...

“Welcome, darlings, to our daily Report Show! I am your host, Mettaton, and we're about to record live an event that will change history for us monsters! The monster who's been praised by monsterkind and previously announced his wish to reclaim the throne, Asriel Dreemurr, accompanied by his fellow human friend Frisk, will challenge our current King, Asgore Dreemurr, to succeed him as the lead of this nation! Be hyped, darlings, for this will be the greatest fight the Underground has ever witnessed!” I didn't expect Mettaton to record our fight...and I definitely didn't expect Temmie to help him; however, I wasn't exactly against the idea.

“Do not die.” Toriel asked us as she joined Temmie and the others in that little corner.

“Unbelievable...” Asgore seemed pretty damn pissed “I have been betrayed by EVERYONE!” perhaps “pissed” wasn't the right adjective: “mad” would be more accurate “Everything I thought...was a lie! My right hand man betrayed me, my people betrayed me...even my wife betrayed me! Everything that happened in the past fifty years was a huge lie!” then he...just laughed. A laugh so inaudible and yet so dreadful it made the blood in my veins chill “Fine. Believe whatever you want, I do not care. After all...I need only one human Soul to pass through the barrier. My original plan was to acquire one, pass through the barrier, obtain six more and free my people...but after this, oh...you are not going anywhere.”

“You wish, you son of a bitch!” I replied, angry “You ain't getting anywhere, we're here to stop you.”

“Your reign ends here, Asgore Dreemurr!” I heard both Asriel's and Chara's voice say “It is time...to finally achieve happiness!”

“It's time to be bad!” we both shouted simultaneously.

The King pulled a shining, red syringe out of his...armor, I think, and injected it's contents in itself, readying himself for battle: both me and Asriel knew the effect was temporary and that, if we fled now, we could've waited for the effect to wear off and finish the battle after that. However...that wasn't my style. If that idiot thought he could beat me with that cheating device, he was going to be proven wrong.

Just as I thought the battle was about to commence, he asked, me with his horrifyingly deep voice, “Human...do you seriously believe you can kill me? Are you that confident in your abilities?”

“Kill you? I never killed anyone before you and I certainly don't plan on killing you either.” I replied, determined “But yeah, I'm definitely going to beat the living shit out of you. I will show you...just how powerful us humans can be!”

“What is a human? A miserable little pile of determination!” he laughed my words off “But enough of that! Have at you!” he summoned a wave of fireballs and shot it at us, prepared to strike us down: I tried to dodge the projectiles the best I could, but one of them hit me and I soon found myself rolling on the floor backwards. Definitely not the best way to start a battle, mind you.

I regained my strength soon afterwards, even though it still hurt quite a bit, and saw that Asriel had charged at his father directly: he unleashed his own barrage of fireballs but, even though all of them hit their target, our opponent still stood, unscratched. Either that armor was very resistant...or I had underestimated the power of that concoction.

The King retaliated by punching his son in the face, which sent him flying backwards as well: he landed next to me, dazed from the power of that hit. I needed to do something, now.

I charged at the King myself and kicked him repeatedly in the chance, as fast as lightning, releasing a storm of thunder and lead at him: despite the might of my attack, he didn't even flinch. Heck, he didn't even retaliate. He was mocking me, and I needed to prove him wrong fast.

I jumped back and prepared myself for my next attack: my “Spinning Bird Kick”. That attack _almost_ never let me down...and I prayed it could save me from the tomb I had dug for myself: I jumped in the air, turned upside down and rotated as fast as I could, hoping the power of my legs would've been enough to take that beast down. I hit the King of monsterkind repeatedly in the head and, even though it was quite difficult to tell since I was spinning rather fast, I thought his head moved at least a little bit.

However, my enthusiasm died pretty early: he grabbed my leg with his hand and tossed me across the room, towards the throne: I landed on the wall, which didn't appreciate my impact very well. I felt something...liquid exiting my mouth: blood. Things weren't looking good at all, I needed to fix my strategy before I bled from somewhere else. I cleaned the blood with my sleeve and got off the wall, ready to charge Asgore once again...except that, perhaps, attacking him directly wasn't the right choice, perhaps a more...indirect approach would've served the purpose better.

I pulled out my guns and shot him in the head with my sub-machine guns, hoping that they would've finally done something right for once...but they did absolutely nothing. I should've expected it, they were useful only against normal monsters...certainly not against buffed fuckers like him.

I didn't expect him at all to charge at me, faster than I could've ever imagined. I tried to run away, or at least avoid him, but he grabbed me before I could go anywhere and slammed me against the ground repeatedly, resulting in a severe headache and a bunch of broken ribs. I was starting to regret not running away while I could. As soon as he finished throwing me around, he blocked me by putting his foot on my chest, preventing me from running away.

“And _you_ wanted to defeat _me_? Disgraceful.” he commented, a huge grin on his stupid face.

“Shut the fuck up, you huge hypocrite! The only reason why you're still in one piece is because of that stupid syringe, created out of the pain and suffering of your own kind: now that's disgraceful, you piece of shit!” he didn't appreciate my intervention, and was losing all his patience “That is enough! I have let you live for too long, human!” he pointed his trident at me, ready to strike “It is time I end you, once and for all!”

“No!” Asriel yelled as more fireballs were shot at Asgore. Once again, no damage was inflicted whatsoever: he looked more like an impregnable fortress than an actual living being.  
I turned at my friend: he was sweating and some weird white liquid was dripping from wounds all over his body “We will not let you touch her!” even though they were trying to save me, I could see the fear on their face. They were afraid...of Asgore...and that I could've died right there.“Look at yourself.” Asgore turned at his son “Fearing for the life...of a human. Do you even know how many humans are on the Surface? Far too many to count, of that I am sure. Why do you care so much about this one? I bet I could find a better combatant in mere seconds!” if I weren't having trouble breathing, I would've found that very rude.

“Frisk is our friend!” they answered, angry “There's no-one like her! That's why we won't let you have her: she is too important to us!”

“Us? You are even worse than I thought, Asriel.” he turned to me “Well then, let us see how you will protect her from...this!” it took him only a second. One second to pierce me with his trident.

I heard a lot of noise, but the only thing I could think of was the blood coming out of my chest. I had lost. Even though I had died at least twice before, Felicity was nowhere nearby to save me. This time...I had lost for real. I couldn't even blame it on her, really: it was my own fault if I wasn't strong enough. I had underestimated my opponent...and overestimated myself. I was weaker than I thought.

I felt my chest lighter, and it didn't look like Asgore had freed me of his own volition. He wasn't doing anything to reclaim me either. I couldn't really see what had happened, as my vision was slightly blurred, but I heard something coming towards me from behind.

“Frisk!” I heard a voice far away...and yet so desperately close say. Asriel ran towards me and sat near me as he tried to keep me alive the best he could “Please don't die! You promised! You promised you wouldn't have died!” I had lied, apparently. I tried to tell him, but I wasn't sure he heard me or not: certainly, I didn't “I will save you! I will absorb your Soul! I will not let you die!” I had never seen him cry so much. I wondered if everyone else as crying as well.  
“Take...care...of yourself...Asriel...” I managed to say “I...have payed...for my...sins...”

My Soul exited my body, no longer able to sustain it. It's red light illuminated the next of the room.

It was over. Soon, it would've shattered in a million pieces before my own eyes.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...Oh dear.  
>  I didn't expect this to happen.  
> ...
> 
> I need to do something.


	37. Hopes and...a lot of pain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Together we stand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am not reliable.  
> Sorry for posting this a little late, but...I am not reliable.  
> Of course, it's not re-read because I am not reliable.  
> Hope you enjoy! =3

_I woke up suddenly, as if I had just awoken from a terrible nightmare. I realized my heart was still beating: hastily, but more slowly as I finally accepted the fact that I wasn't dead. Yet. I was more than sure that I had actually died, that there was no way I could've lived through that terrible wound...did Asriel really absorb my Soul, I wondered? Was I inside Asriel now? If so...why couldn't I hear him?_

“ _Thank God I arrived when I did!” I heard a familiar voice say behind me “Ha, that was a good one...I should write it somewhere so I don't forget it.” I turned around and, unexpectedly, Hex stood right behind me; I assumed he was the one who brought me...where was I, again? I wasn't sure, there were no walls, no floor and no ceiling...everything was white, except for a strange light far away from us which produced faded pink and yellow rays of light._

“ _Where am I?” I asked, more scared than curious._

“ _Good question.” he answered “We're in a special space I created specifically to temporarily store your Soul. I couldn't leave you to die, so I created this place to save you as I thought of a solution to our dilemma.”_

“ _Am I...dead?” I inquired, more frightened than ever._

“ _You aren't...but you're very close to death indeed.” he replied as he smirked “Right now, time in your world is frozen. Your Soul is extremely close to disappearing, and that's not good: if you are to survive, you'll need my friends' help.” was he talking about Death and Felicity, I wondered?_

“ _Why, can't you bring her to life yourself?” yet another familiar, rude voice asked behind my back: I turned around only to face...two other humans, a tall man and a little girl “Just because we decided to come and help you doesn't mean we have to solve your every issue...especially when you have the power to do it yourself.” the man finished._

_The man wore the same clothes as Death did, but he definitely wasn't a cat...and he didn't have any wings either. The girl looked extremely similar to Felicity and wore her same clothes as before, but she too wasn't a cat and didn't have any wings. The man had short black hair and wore black sunglasses, while the girl had long brown hair adorned by a red bow and had little brown eyes._

“ _These are my helpers, Dante and Frisk.” the cat smirked as he explained “But you already know them as Death and Felicity.” did I hear that right? Did he just call the little girl...Frisk? Like me? I already considered the possibility that she could be, in fact, me from another world but..._

“ _Hey.” she greeted me, a bit shy “I'm sorry I couldn't tell you before, but...Hex told me not to. Besides, you wouldn't have believed me so...”  
“Who exactly are you?” I asked, still unsure as to who she really was._

“ _I am Frisk. Just as you are. We have lots in common, you know...but we took very different paths.” she answered, a bit saddened “At first, I didn't know exactly what I was aiming for...but then I met Asriel, and I finally found out what I really wanted: a world where every monster, Asriel included, could live in peace. It took me a while to actually realize it...it took me a lot of resets, a lot of hard work...and my own life. D-Don't worry, it was temporary. But hey, what matters is that everyone in my world is okay. Thanks to him too.” she hugged her friend childishly, something that made him blush a little “Come on, Frisk...that was uncalled for. She laughed as she finished “Anyway...I'm fine. I have a brother, a family...but I knew you didn't. I knew there was at least one version of me, stranded in the sea of time, who wasn't as fortunate as I was. That's why I came here to help: I wanted you to be as happy as I am.” even though I didn't understand everything she said, I was happy for her. She got what she wanted, and I should've been thanked her for her help. She didn't have to spend her time her, watching over me and protecting me from afar, but she did. I wasn't sure if I would've done the same for her or not._

“ _Alright, I'm fine with that...but who the Hell are you?” I turned to Death...I mean, Dante “If she is me from another world, then...who are you, exactly?”_

_He didn't answer immediately: instead, he slowly walked towards me, grabbed my shoulders and forced me to look at him in the eyes: even though he was wearing thick sunglasses, I perfectly saw what looked like a gray...or perhaps black iris turn bloody red in mere instants “I am...power. Fear. Devastation. I am the demon I never wanted to become. You still have no clue?”  
He didn't need to say a word to make me understand: those red eyes explained everything to me...I was filled by both fear and anger as I called the name of the demon who once took advantage of me “Chara...” the real one. The one who watched as I slaughtered innocents, as I murdered their family. I would've never expected to meet them once more._

“ _Yep. Please, call me Dante though: I hate that name. It's so...generic.” was he even being serious? From the looks of it, he was “It's been a while since we two last met. Do you still hold me responsible for...everything?” perhaps it would've been wiser to say no, but I nodded instead and let him explain himself. There had to be a reason why he called himself a different name, after all._

“ _You may think I'm the same person who sent you down that road, but I'm not that man anymore. I killed him.” he smirked “Literally. It felt great too.” his expression turned serious as he continued “You know, I never knew what I had done...who I really was...until I fell down here. Not precisely down here...but you get the point. If there's one thing I learned about the Underground, it's that it changes you. I learned what love truly means down here. I made a choice, after I regained my powers...to use them for good. Not the greatest of promises, but it's still something, don't you think?” I was still a bit angered by the fact that his “powers” were the fruit of my past...work...but, if Hex and Frisk trusted him, I should've done so too. He had helped me multiple times during my journey, after all, and he deserved some respect for that._

_I thanked him and turned to Hex to discuss the most urgent topic at hand “How can I get back up?”_

“ _Frisk could use her powers to rewind time...” he explained “But that wouldn't make you any stronger, and beating Asgore would still prove a challenge. There's a very likely chance you'd die again before you could make it, and we can't keep on resetting: the audience might get bored.” just then I remembered there were people watching me. I wondered what they were thinking in that moment. Could they even see me, in that weird place?  
“We don't need to rewind time.” Dante announced “I've got just what we need.” he put his right hand over his chest, spawning a black, glowing orb, around the size of a tennis ball. He offered it to me as he explained “This is what's left of “their” power. It's quite a lot, to be honest. However, I don't need it: I've absorbed everything I needed from this thing already, so you can keep the rest.” I eyed him suspicious and asked if that thing would've had influences on my psyche “This isn't Chara's Soul: it's just their power. Pure LOVE, nothing else. Absorbing it wouldn't cause any problems, of that I'm sure...consider this my apologies for everything I've caused in the past.” _

_I considered his proposal: if I accepted, I would've gained substantial power and returned to life...but I was still wary of absorbing anything related to them. I feared it would've made me more similar to them. However, there was no way around it: I knew Hex wouldn't have used his powers (if he even had the power to reverse my death, which he probably did) so there was no other way I could've resumed fighting without relying solely on Asriel._

“ _Just give me the damn thing.” as soon as I touched that orb, it shattered into...I don't know, black energy, perhaps? Whatever it was, it crawled along my skin until it reached my chest: my Soul popped out and absorbed that weird dark thing, but didn't change in color or shape whatsoever._

_After that, I felt a bit tired and fell asleep..._

 

I opened my eyes immediately and jumped back up, ready for battle: my chest still ached, but the pain was fading extremely fast. That power boost I just had was doing miracles, I never felt so powerful in my entire life, not even when I was a murderer.

“What the-” Asriel exclaimed, surprised: he was still in shock, he couldn't believe I was still alive “F-Frisk! You are alive!” he got up from the ground and hugged me, thankful that I hadn't left him.

“I'm here.” I smiled “Now let's finish this.” I turned towards my enemy, who was still shocked by my return “No way! I killed you! You should be dead!”

“And you should be living in a hospice.” I answered, ironic “Guess we both can't accept our fate, huh?” my answer immediately angered him: I had regained my humor as well. Man, I should've accepted that thing a long time ago. I wondered if there were any drugs inside that orb, it would've explained a few things.

“Whatever! I will kill again and again until you stay dead! I have enough power to take on an army!” he yelled at us, perhaps a bit less confident in his abilities.

“Does that mean you can take on five people as well?” I heard a female voice ask behind my back: I was surprised to see that Hex, Frisk and Dante had followed me from...wherever the heck we were before, and were already prepared to fight.

“Frisk, who are they?” Asriel asked me, just as surprised as everyone else in the room “I recognize Karma, but...”

“Those are Death and Felicity.” I answered, knowing full-well that, if I were to tell everyone their true names, their brains would've exploded “Even though they're not cats anymore, they're still the idiots we know and love.”  
“Speak for yourself.” Dante replied as he turned to Asgore “What a horrible night...to get fucking rekt!” he summoned his sword and got in a battle stance “Karma has an unhealthy obsession with overpowered bosses, so we're here to help you fight him.”  
“You know, you could've just nerfed him.” Frisk pointed out, upsetting the cat “I'll nerf a boss the day Blizzard nerfs Dr. Boom!” he said so like he knew that day would've never come. While Frisk seemed to know what he was talking about, everyone else in the room didn't have a clue.

“You didn't have to come help me.” I told my friends, almost insulted by the fact that I wasn't going to fight alone.

“Oh, Frisk is the only one here fighting here to help you.” Hex replied “Me and Death are here solely to have some fun! I want to see if this battle can make me feel excitement, if I can feel alive inside my...well, let's not spoil everything to those lads over there.” he pointed to Temmie and the others, who were still unsure as to what was exactly happening “So, should we start?”

“Hell yeah.” I turned to Asriel “Are you ready to finish this?”

“I do not know what's happening, but I do not think I care anymore.” Asriel smiled at me, determined “Let's end this, once and for all.”

All of us turned to Asgore, our weapons drawn (except Frisk who didn't want to fight), ready to fight. The King was slightly angered by Hex and the others' intrusion, but also kind of excited “You think you are smart, but in the end you are just feeding me more Souls! Five, a hundred, a million, it does not matter: you are all already dead!”

“It's time to be bad!” we all yelled as we charged into battle: the first one to attack the boss was Dante, who launched his sword at him and teleported right as the weapon struck, then dealt massive damage by swinging his sword around seemingly aimlessly. That surprise attack broke the King's guard almost instantaneously and Dante used this opportunity to dish out some major damage as the sword hit every inch of the King's body, not leaving a single spot untouched.

As the man finished his combo, he jumped back, confident that Asgore wouldn't have been able to retaliate or move away, and used a technique I never saw before: the entire room darkened so much I couldn't see anything except the boss monster standing in the middle of it. What looked like beams of light moved around frantically around the monster, in a random pattern; then, the darkness faded and the beams exploded in black flames as the man who conjured them stood extremely close to the explosion, but just barely enough away to not get hurt by hit. I didn't know what exactly happened, but it looked awesome. I wondered if I could use a technique like that as well.

Despite the massive amount of damage Dante had dealt, the King got up, a bit painfully but he did, and even taunted us “Is that all you got? If so, you are finished!” a blatant lie, but he seemed to believe it: he launched a wave of fireballs at us, but we had moved around the room as Dante executed his strategy so we were in a more advantageous position...plus, Frisk used her time-control powers to slow down time and allow us all to dodge the projectiles.

As the attack ended, most likely due to fatigue, Asriel decided it was about time he spilled some blood of his own: he charged his magic and prepared himself to use an attack he had never used before “I have always hidden behind a mask, a gray mask made out of broken feelings and fear...but it is about time I finally took off that mask. It is time to show you what I truly can do!” what looked like a magic circle appeared in the air over Asgore and...shooting stars (or at least something that looked very close to that) fell towards our enemy, exploding on contact into more shooting stars, dealing a lot of damage...man, I wish I could do something like that. Why was I the only one who didn't have any superpowers?

Either way, the goat then decided to attack his father directly: he summoned two weird scimitars and ran towards our opponent, hitting him hard with all the strength he could muster. Even though his father tried to put up some kind of resistance and even tried to retaliate, the attack from before had weakened him too much and couldn't do anything to actually defend himself against his son's rampage. When the Prince finally ran away to replenish his stamina, I could finally see how hurt the King was: still, he tried to hide it and kept treating us as if he were winning “You...you are not going to win...I have only been...playing so far...”

“Ha! That's a good one.” apparently, it was now Hex's turn to have fun in my place “I wonder why everyone complains about you being too overpower: you're such a joke even the Joker is more serious than you.” that name sounded familiar, but I didn't exactly recall who was the cat talking about.

“Shut up! You are only a miserable plebeian! You cannot hope to match my power!” seriously, why am I even bothering to recall what that huge piece of shit said? It's not like anyone would care...or would they?

“You're not even funny anymore.” the cat said as he summoned his cards “I'll show you the true meaning of “overpowered”.” once again, he created a magic circle using his cards and yelled what looked like the spell's name “Divine Decree – Dies Irae!” seriously, what kind of nerd was he to shout a spell's name like that? He had to be the dorkiest geek in the history of mankind...and monsterkind's too: not even Alphys was such a huge dork...but I'm digressing, am I?

As before, the attack spawned a multitude of beams that pierced through Asgore's body as if it were made of paper, but they didn't cause any visible physical wounds: that shouldn't have surprised me, as they were likely made of magic, which isn't material.

However, this time he finished using yet another attack: he summoned more cards and created multiple circles, bigger and bigger, and layered them from biggest to smallest. White magic gathered inside the cone of cards, which seemed much stronger than the previous attack he had used “Sink into oblivion! Divine Decree – Requiem!” one big, powerful laser was shot which completely engulfed the King and deprived it of most of his energies: when the beam disappeared, the King was lying on the ground, seemingly defeated.

“What the fuck man!” I yelled at Hex “I didn't even lay a finger on him! I call bullshit!”

“Don't worry, my edgy friend!” he pointed at Asgore, who was slowly getting back up, still not exhausted; the cat kept singing the word “trololol” over and over again, which irritated me slightly: I punched the cat in the face to shut him up and ran to the King to finish him personally.

He tried to defend himself, but I was too fast for him: my punches and kicks were now literally as fast as lightning and my power had increased drastically, which made me look like a steamroller trampling over a pathetic little flower, completely obliterating it.

“This one's for the people you've killed!” I punched him in the face “This one's for the lives you've ruined!” I kicked him in the nuts “This one's for my friends!” I punched him in the stomach “And this one if for Asriel, you motherfucker!” as I uppercut him, my vision blurred and I felt tired, just like before...

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That settles it!
> 
> The ending is cominng whenever because I AM NOT RELIABLE STOP TRUSTING ME.


	38. Ending

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally, it's the end...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, I actually published this on time! That's wonderful!  
> As always, poorly edited yadda yadda yadda let's just read this piece of shit.

 

“Hey, wake up!” a voice called me from the darkness, persistent “Wake up! Wake up!” it took me a while to realize that my eyes were closed and that I could open them: at first, I thought some kind of light was blinding me...but, after a few instants, I realized the only white light that I could see was Asriel's face “You had me worried, for a second.”

“More than that one time I almost died?” I replied, still half-asleep.

“That was a few hours ago, and no, you are right, it did not scare me more than last time.” I asked how many hours ago did that happen, I felt like I had slept for eons “Eight or nine, I am not really sure. After defeating dad, you just...blacked out, for some reason, and you left me and mom alone to deal with...everything. I am sorry, I was not here with you all the time...”

As I spoke with Asriel, I looked around, not understanding exactly where I was: I was, apparently, sleeping on a huge double bed, under red covers that stored heat really well. The bedroom was almost exclusively painted in red, from the floor, to the ceiling to, possibly, even the walls, were they not covered by red curtains. The only differently colored things that I could see were Asriel's attire, which hadn't changed from Alphys' Lab, and the brown wood of the bed's legs...oh, and the pillows, which were black. That room looked very luxurious indeed...was that the King's room? The thought disgusted me, but I tried to get back to the conversation at hand.

“It's fine.” I answered, the events of the previous night slowly returning to mind “What happened after I blacked out?”

“Well, you defeated dad.” he seemed rather happy about that “Which means now I am King. He did not want to accept it at first...well, he still does not: I had to ask that skeleton, Sans, to jail him until we figure out a way to deal with him...”

“You did what?” I asked, surprised.

“Well, even though the effect of the Determination he injected himself ended, he is still very dangerous...and, since he could not stop ranting about ending my and your life...there was little to no alternative. Do not worry, it is only temporary: I have no intention of killing him...and I would really love to have my dad back, one day...” he looked sad, so I tried to change the subject “What else did you do?”

“Well, Mettaton could not stop asking questions...and I had to answer most of them, considering the entire Underground was curious as to what was going to happen next...” he seemed a bit annoyed by that even though he was smiling “I had to contain myself from exploding him...seriously, that robot is unbearable. But, apart from that, I also had to prepare our coronation: mom doesn't want to succeed dad, so that leaves only us.”

“Us?” I inquired, my heartbeat rapidly increasing “What do you mean “us”? You're a prince, but I'm no-one! Besides, I'm not into politics so...”

“Very funny.” he wasn't laughing...I was about to shit my pants “You dragged me into this mess and you are not going to back down at the last second. You are becoming my Princess, no matter what.” was he still going to keep the title of “Prince” then? I was fine with that: princes are always good guys in fables...but was I worthy of the title of Princess?

“By the way, if I'm becoming your Princess...will I become your Princess like your sister or like your lover?” I asked, wondering just...what Asriel saw me as.

“Why not both?” he winked at me, without me understanding whether he was ironic or not.  
“You kinky bastard.” I feigned indignity at his twisted desires “By the way, did you sleep even a little? It doesn't look like it.”

“Well, I had to work all night, so...no.” he looked away, tiredness finally appearing on his face “But Death showed me this beverage, “Cappuccino” or whatever...and it's actually pretty good. I had to drink a dozen of them to stay awake, but...”

“Perhaps you'd like to sleep with me...just a little.” I leered at him, devilish “Or are your duties as the new King too important to-”

“Prince. It sounds better to me than “King”.” well, at least we thought alike. He accepted my proposal without even thinking about it “Yes, why do we not...sleep together? I believe it would allow us to...get to know each other better.” he said as he sat atop me, looking at me like a long-awaited prize “Should we start?”

“Of course.” I said as he curved on me, hugged me and kissed me, our bodies already not feeling the flow of time anymore, immune to the outside world, existing only for each other...

 

“And that's it guys! Sorry guys, but this fic's rated “M” for “Mature”, not “E” for E...for E...damn, I don't know how to finish that joke!” I was used to Hex saying random things in the middle of nowhere, but I couldn't understand what, exactly, triggered that response from him “Fuck! I'm not good even as comic relief! But yeah, you're still not seeing what happens next.”

Dante seemed far too interested in what Hex was saying “Wait, are you seriously implying that...”

“They're doing it in the bedroom.” the cat answered as he smirked, almost making me vomit: speaking so openly in front of a twelve-years old...he would've disgusted me if I weren't used to it “There are some downsides to being all-seeing. This is certainly not one of them.” he said as he made a pack of potato chips appear out of nowhere and started munching them.

“Whatever...what are you going to do about the barrier?” I asked, more concerned about that Underground's situation.

He dropped the bag of chips as soon as he realized he hadn't taken that into consideration “Shit! I forgot!” he scratched the back of his head as he considered every alternative “I can't just break the barrier like last time: if I do, everything's going to go south! These idiots aren't prepared for humanity, they would kill themselves out there...maybe I should wait for Asriel and Frisk to show me their worth before I do anything about the barrier.”

“You know Asriel can just pass through and give you a huge middle-finger, right?” Dante pointed out.

“He won't. Even if he does consider the option, Chara and Frisk will stop him before he can do anything.” Hex replied, sure of his words.

“What about Sans, Papyrus, Undyne, Alphys...what about everyone else?” I asked, unsure of their future.

“I guess I could write more about them: about their current relationships, about their future...but that would take a great deal of time and willpower and I'm short on both. So yeah, we'll be the only ones knowing what happens next...even though it's pretty obvious.” Hex answered, slightly more serious than before “Honestly, they should be satisfied with the fact that everyone will have their happy ending and don't ask for more. After all, there's already so many things that happened and that I have no intention of telling them...”

“Like the work we did behind the scenes.” Dante remembered.

“Yes, like that. There are a few more things I did here and there that I kept hidden from you two as well, but I'm not going to disclose on those either.”

“There are?” I asked, dubious “I'm pretty sure we were with you all the time.”

“You're not the only one who can stop time, Frisk.” he answered, still not clearing all my doubts.

Nevertheless, something interesting happened soon afterwards: out of nowhere, a small creature appeared and approached us...Temmie. What was she doing in the Palace right now? Well, I could've asked the same thing about us...but still, she seemed to have some business with Hex “Hoi! Did everything go according to plan?” what...what the actual...

“Look around you.” he answered “Doesn't this look like a happy ending to you? Of course everything went alright...thanks to you as well.”

“Yeah yeah, where are my munz?” she signed him with her hand to pay her something...what was going on, I asked myself?

The cat had to, reluctantly, give her a _huge_ check (and I mean huge as in big, like...it was as big as an actual person) and thank her once again: she then left, wishing us farewell “It's been a pleasure working with you! Bye!” I never quite understood how certain monsters could just...appear and disappear so quickly. They certainly couldn't teleport, so...how in the world could they do that?

Still, that wasn't what I was confused about: did Hex and Temmie...  
“Since how long?” Dante asked, not as surprised as I was.

“Since the very beginning.” he answered “She's the best actor I've ever seen in my life...an expensive one, but a good one nonetheless. Even though we monitored her from afar, I wanted to be sure she didn't fuck up while I looked away: that's where she came in.” I would've never guessed it, the look on her face when we first met looked legit.

A short silence ensued.

“So, what now?” Dante asked “Any new adventures planned? Because I want to be in them.” of course he did: his thirst for battle was equal solely to his thirst for Cappuccinos.

“Not right now.” was he being serious? “Don't get me wrong, I would very much like to work on another fiction...something that I will do, when the time is right. However...there is something else I must do first. Something that will tell me whether I am a talented writer or not.”

“What do you mean?” I asked, curious.

“Is it not obvious?” I wanted to answer “no”, but he explained before I could “I'm writing a book baby! It's time to earn some big money, motherfuckers!” okay...that was uncalled for. But still, I was happy for him: if he was having a good time, that meant we were about to have good times as well.

“But I'm in it, right?” Dante asked, more insistent “I _am_ in it, _right_?”

“You know what? If you're so enthusiastic about having another lead role, then I've got the perfect one for you.” the weird expression on Dante's face soon turned into a fearful one “I will make you star in the worst film humanity has ever produced! Something so terrible many men committed suicide the moment they heard it's name!”

“Is it the new “Sharknado”?” he asked, afraid of what he got himself into.

“Even worse.” the cat smirked as he named one of the few TV shows I never dared to see “The new season of “The Bold and the Beautiful”! Starring Dante Alighieri as no-one else than Taylor herself!” even though it might sound unreal, after hearing those words, my friend ran towards the nearest window, crashed it and threw himself out of it...screaming like Darth Vader from Star Wars. Well, that was one TV show to mark off the “to watch” list...

“...Is this it?” I asked, surprised “Is this how you're going to end this? For real?”

“Yep.” he replied, not sorry in the least “Welcome to my world, bitches. Population: me, and all those idiots that will eventually enter a madhouse after meeting me. I hope you enjoy your stay.”

“Send help please.” I asked, hoping that someone could hear me.  
  
  


FINE

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's over! YES! OH MY GOD IT'S OVER!  
> After four months of work, this fic is over.  
> Five-thousand views, a-hundred-fifty kudos, and, most importantly, three-hundred-fifty-eight comments! (half of them are mine though lol)  
> I must thank you all for bearing with me and supporting me all the way, especially those who showed me some love and commented: I won't ever, ever forget you.  
> Also...you might not want to unsubscribe: I may have a surprise planned for you all, which will be available in a few days...
> 
> Hex, out! =3


	39. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The true ending.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoy. =3

The entirety of New Home stands before us, a city so big I am still surprised it had been built below a mountain...the Underground's a mysterious place, for sure: I'm still unsure how far it actually extends, it looks much bigger than the mountain above it...and yet, it's small. Too small. At least, it certainly looks small when seen from the window of a castle above everything else.

“When do you think we will see the Surface?” Asriel asks me, a bit saddened by the current state of things.

“Karma told me we will once the Underground is ready. And I believe him: seeing how your people reacted to your coronation, I don't think it would've been a good idea to give them access to the Surface from the get-go...” I answer, calm.

“They are _our_ people, Frisk.” he replies “And it was _our_ coronation. You are as much important as I am now, even though you still have troubles admitting it to yourself.” he says so...even though he still considers me his pet. Not that I complain, I actually grew quite fond of the nickname.

“It just...doesn't feel right.” I explain “I hurt so many people...did so many wrong things...and yet here I am, standing right next to you, leading this small nation...I don't think I deserve what I got.”

“You kept repeating that ever since we defeated father.” Asriel shakes his head in disapproval “I sincerely cannot understand your grief anymore: you showed everyone kindness, you made amends for your past deeds...you righted the wrong. I just...cannot understand what binds you to your past.”

“Me neither.” I reply “I just...feel like I'll never get over it. I won't ever forget what I saw, what I did...I've been forgiven by everyone, except myself.” I know I need a way out of this prison, but, despite my friend's best efforts, I am still trapped in it. But I do know for a fact that, if I continue down the road I paved for myself, I will eventually find a way. A way to reclaim the last thing I lost: peace.

“Oh, right, I forgot to tell you.” I say as Asriel raises his eyebrows “Karma contacted me the other day and proposed me to help him out with a few worlds that need help.”

“And what would you gain from that?” he inquires, dubious.

“Personal enjoyment, apparently. It will also shorten the time period before he actually does something about the barrier.” I reply, very excited by the idea of visiting another world...just like Dante and Frisk did. It had been a while since those two had returned to their own world: I often wonder how they are faring. What kind of world do they live in anyway? Knowing Frisk, a good one. Of that, at least, I am certain..

“Are you sure you have to go?” he asks me, preoccupied “The Underground needs it's Princess, even though these fools often neglect that...and I need you too. Without you, I-”

“Relax.” I stop him “I ain't going anywhere for a while, at least. He doesn't need me, at least for the time being, so I'll have to wait until he calls...but when he does, I will have to go: I have a power few possess, and I must use it. Whether I will have to save innocents or defeat evildoers, I will do it.”  
“What if he wants you to do his laundry?” Asriel asks, ironic “Are you sure you will be up to the task?” the question is so silly it makes me laugh, and he smiles as well: he loves making me laugh. And I love seeing him smile.

The phone that is in my pocket rings a familiar tune and I pick it up, knowing the person on the other side doesn't call just to say hi “Any news?” I ask.

“Y-Yes, Your Majesty.” Alphys's still not used to calling me “Your Majesty”, but she tries even though I asked her not to: it's her own way to show respect, and I understand her desire to please the only employer who returned that respect “As you know, we have been working hard to find a cure for the amalgamates and-”

“It's fucking working!” a loud noise erupts in the background: I don't appreciate the fact that Alphys made her fiancé her research assistant even though she constantly makes mistakes and threatens to ruin her experiments...but I understand the reason behind it. As long as she doesn't let her handle anything dangerous and/or important, I'm fine with her being there.

“Well, we are still working on the cure...but things are going well so far!” Alphys explains as she struggles to keep Undyne quiet “It will take some time before the prototype is complete, but we will make sure it will be finished as soon as possible. I will keep you adjourned on our latest breakthroughs, and you're free to come visit us whenever you want.”

“Of course.” I answer “I will inform the Prince of what you've told me. We don't have time to visit right now, as we have a few events we'll have to attend to this week, but we'll make sure to stop by whenever we can.”

“O-Of course! Anyway, I have to go now before Undyne breaks another pot...bye!” she hangs up on me, making me regret once again to have let her choose her own assistant. I tell Asriel what the monster told me, and he nods approvingly. He knows how much I care for those poor creatures, but he is more concerned about his more...normal subjects, something I should do as well.

“We've got some free time until our next meeting with Asgore, Toriel and the other nobles.” I remind my friend “Is there something you want to do in the meantime?” I would like to do something...frisky, but lately he's not in the mood. Still, I would be glad to spend some time with him, together.

“Well, I bought some tea from a local store...” Asriel informs me, perfectly knowing I dislike tea immensely.

“If you insist...” surprising him a great deal, I accept his proposal.

Because my time with Asriel is limited, even though it's not apparent. Years pass hastily, and I want to make the best of it. Through both good times and bad times, I will always be my lover and his brother's side.

...I can't even tell them apart anymore.

 

_* **RING RING** *_

“ _Hello?”_

“ _Is anyone there?”_

“ _I know this is the right number...”_

_“Well, since you ain't answering me, I'll just leave ya a message.”_

“ _...”_

“ _It's been a while since you became our Princess, hasn't it?”_

“ _I never thought this would've happened...but it did.”_

“ _Everyone's happy...sort of.”_

“ _Papyrus's still running Snowdin, but he's much better than before: he asked all the citizens for forgiveness and...well, they forgave him. Now everyone loves him, they consider him a friend...I've never seen him so happy. He's great friends with a small kid, but I don't know all the details...maybe I should ask him about it sooner or later.”_

“ _Alphys and Undyne are working together as Royal Scientists, but...well, you already know that.”_

“ _Mettaton became a star and now everyone recognizes him. He's the most followed monster on “Twitter”, or whatever that thing's called...got some human fans too, even though nobody's realized he's a monster yet. I wonder what'll happen once they do, though. Oh, and his cousin keeps helping him and supporting him. Sometimes, I think their love for each other is a bit different than normal cousins' love...whatever.”_

“ _I heard a new bakery opened up in Hotland, run by a woman named Muffet and her spider family...weird, I knew of a mafia godfather with the same name and looks. Your fault as well? Of course it is.”_

“ _That girl, Red...she's now Captain of the Royal Guard. Guess you already knew who to sign up after Undyne left, huh? She's quite the character...but I like her more than Undyne: I think she represents Justice way better.”_

“ _That monster you helped, Temmie, is now the richest monster in the whole Underground. Even richer than you, from the looks of it. However, most of her money is up on the Surface so she can't aspire to dethrone you...for now, at least. She's your friend though, right? Then I'm pretty sure she won't ever raise a hand on you...even if she had the power to do that.”_

“ _Of course, there's a few guys that despise you for no reason, but that's okay. I don't know why you haven't had them arrested yet, but it's not up to me to decide._

“ _...”_

“ _...That's not all though.”_

“ _Dad...”_

“ _Dad came home.”_

_“He doesn't remember almost anything, but...he hasn't forgotten about me or Papyrus. I never thought this day would come...really, I didn't. There's so many things I want to tell him...we'll have to catch up immediately after he recovers. Not from the amnesia, that is likely permanent...but from anorexia. I never thought a skeleton could be anorexic, but I've been proven wrong many times.”_

“ _I bet your cat friend is to thank. Give him my thanks next time you see him, okay?”_

“ _...”_

“ _...As for me, I keep watching.”_

“ _Just like you asked.”_

“ _I guess that's all.”_

“ _Damn thing's batteries are already dying.”_

“ _Well, see you later then.”_

“ _...”_

“ _...That snowman you've got in your garden looks nice though. Seems happy.”_

 

* **CLICK** *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am still here.


	40. [Update]

Hello everyone, Hex here.  
So... it's been a long while, hasn't it? Thought so: this fiction was a blast to write for me, a project I wanted to do for so long... a project I dedicated my whole heart and Soul to. However, it wasn't quite perfect... it couid've been much better than it currently is, and that is my biggest regret regarding it... unfortunately, though, I don't have the time or the will to rewrite it like I am (not) doing with Not all heroes are born good.  
You see, I began working on something new. Something huge. Something unique, and amazing. A full-fledged novel, featuring a unique plot, a unique cast and an astounding narrative structure. This is, by far, my favorite (and best) work I've done so far.  
What I'm asking you is this: do you want more from me? Did you enjoy not just reading this novel, but my whole writng style as an author? If the answer is yes, I recommend you to read my new masterpiece: 'Project R.E.D.'.  
The most skeptic between you will probably say "But this isn't Undertale! It's a novel for ****ing furries! You're a sellout for posting an update over here!", a perfectly reasonable observation, to which I answer...

...Who said my new novel isn't Undertale-related?

in fact, if you're looking forward for the next sequel to my Undertale AU, you will find it over there. Don't be scared of the 'Furry' tag, that's only referring to a few of the characters that, mind you, rarely become actual anthropomorphic animals. Moreover, this story is 100% PG-13: no heavy swearing, no sexual content, but lots of adult and mature content as well... just like the good old days of cartoons and video games.

I hope to see you again over on Project R.E.D., right here on Ao3 (http://archiveofourown.org/works/8189848). Until then, goodbye! =3  
-Hex


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